Nato squares up to Putin: As Russia beefs up its military might on Europe's border, West responds with biggest show of force since the Cold War

Europe

Russia's military escalation on Europe's border has triggered the West's biggest show of force in the region since the Cold War as Nato continues to square up to Vladimir Putin.

Britain is to deploy troops, tanks and jets to Estonia to deter Russian aggression while UK and Romanian forces will also join a US battalion in Poland.

As part of the biggest military build-up in Eastern Europe since the Cold War, RAF planes are also being dispatched to patrol Romanian airspace for the first time.

The moves are designed to stop Moscow taking over or undermining its former Eastern European satellites as it has with Crimea and Ukraine.

The US is hoping for European nations to fill four battle groups of some 4,000 troops as part of Nato's response to Russia. More troops will be sent to the Baltic states and eastern Poland early next year. They will be backed by Nato's 40,000-strong rapid reaction force.

France, Denmark, Italy and other allies are expected to join the four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Britain and Canada to go to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, with forces ranging from armoured infantry to drones.

It comes after Russia unveiled pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile – Satan 2 – which is capable of obliterating the UK.

The UK is sending 800 troops to Estonia as part of a Nato reaction to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, with both sides increasing their military capability in eastern Europe in the biggest military build-up since the Cold War

Yesterday, Putin also reportedly launched an RS-18 ballistic missile, understood to be a test to see if it could defeat US defence systems.

And today, 130 military centres were put on high alert in Russia and six surrounding countries for drills on the region's ability to respond to attacks from the West.

In other developments:

Vladimir Putin upgraded the firepower of his Baltic Fleet with more ships and missiles;
40million Russians took part in four days of nuclear defence drills;
Spain cancelled plans to refuel Russian vessels heading for Syria.

Several Nato states, including Estonia, fear they could be next on President Putin's hit list. And fellow members, including the UK, have a legal duty to defend them.

The alliance's build-up will see 800 UK troops deployed to Estonia for six months from May. They will be relieved by soldiers from another Nato nation to keep up a continuous presence.

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