Danish soldiers under NATO conduct live-fire exercise at Latvia

Danish soldiers under NATO conduct live-fire exercise at Latvia. At the request of NATO, the Danish Armed Forces have deployed a combat battalion with support units in Latvia. With approximately 750 soldiers, the battalion is helping to reinforce the region after Russia’s unjustified and brutal invasion of Ukraine. The battalion is formed by the Danish Army’s 1st Brigade and is mainly composed of the 1st Hussars of the Guard Hussars Regiment, with support units from the Danish Artillery Regiment and the Danish Logistics Regiment. The Danish forces are deployed alongside troops from other NATO member countries at Ādaži Military Base and are integrated into the Latvian Mechanised Infantry Brigade. The battalion deployed in late April 2022. Footage includes various shots of Danish troops from the 1st Brigade conducting a live-fire exercise in the Latvian woodland, working alongside Latvian colleagues and firing from Combat Vehicle 90s and Piranha 5 armoured vehicles. Back in February, the Danish parliament decided to deploy the Danish unit into Latvia as a response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. And through February and until the end of April we were on elevated readiness going from 30 days to 5 days, and at the end of April we were deployed to Latvia within a short amount of time. We’ve have been here ever since with the goal of training and preparing. In regards to our level of preparedness, not much has changed because of the Ukraine crisis but we are of course watching what is happening in Ukraine. We look at the new TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) of the Russians and their new way of doing things. So we’re prepared if the Russians were to get the idea of marching and preparing to attack Latvia and the other Baltic countries. There is no doubt that just our presence and the way we have integrated ourselves into the Latvian Brigade sends a strong signal to Russia that we are united in NATO in protecting the Baltic States and the whole of eastern flank. And I think we are doing that by both sending a message directly to Russia with our presence but also by essentially giving the local population the certainty that we are ready to defend Latvia should it come to that.