US and Polish officials scouting border control sites to assist Americans leaving Ukraine, officials say
US and Polish officials are scouting where to establish border control points to assist Americans coming out of Ukraine, according to two defense officials.
Multiple sites have been identified along the border with Ukraine. The officials would not yet say the exact locations, report CNN.
One is expected to be an already existing Polish facility, while others are being built. The officials said the sites would offer temporary shelter and other amenities, as well as State Department services for Americans in transit.
Troops of the 82nd Airborne in eastern Poland are expected to be handling much of the effort.
A senior defense official told CNN Friday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered 3,000 more soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to Poland, joining the 1,700 already there. The soldiers are there to help Americans who may try to leave Ukraine.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters earlier this month that 82nd Airborne troops were sent to Poland primarily because "they are multi-mission capable