By Olha Chepil | 2025-04-11

KYIV -- The US Army is wrapping up a three-year-long mission at the base in Jasionka, Poland, and is transferring its troops and equipment to other bases in the country, US and Polish officials confirmed this week.

The repositioning is the result of many months of planning, tightly coordinated with Poland and other allies from NATO, the US Army said in a statement April 7.

US forces established a temporary presence at the Jasionka airport after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The site, although not at a permanent Polish military base, has been utilized by US, NATO and partner forces over the past three years.

"In the meantime, the US Army has established US Army Garrison Poland and more robust facilities based on host-nation agreements and significant investment in those facilities from both the Polish and US governments," the statement added.

The move is part of a broader strategy to optimize US military operations in the region, the statement said.

"Poland is a great host," Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa, said in the statement. "After three years at Jasionka this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year."

US troops staying in Poland

Polish officials confirmed the changes at Jasionka.

"US troops remain in Poland! In accordance with the decision made at the NATO summit in Washington, the nature of the mission in Jasionka is changing," Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a Polish-language post on X April 8.

"The former tasks of US forces in Jasionka have been transferred to other allies," he said, adding that US forces are moving to other locations in Poland. "Now, the mission in Jasionka involves mainly Norwegian, German, British and Polish troops, as well as other allies."

Analysts emphasized the importance of the US presence in Poland.

"The main thing is the preservation of the [US] presence in Poland," Stanislav Zhelikhovsky of Kyiv, political scientist and scholar of international relations, told Kontur.

About 20,000 US service members strengthened the defense of US allies on NATO's eastern flank after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he said.

"Despite the repositioning [of US forces] from Jasionka, the number of American troops in Poland won't change," he said, adding that there are about about 10,000 US troops in the country.

US forces are also present in the Baltic countries and in Romania, Alexander Kovalenko of Odesa, a correspondent for the InfoResist news site.

"But in any case, if you speak of all Eastern Europe, the biggest [US troop] presence ... is in Poland," he told Kontur.

Support to Ukraine will continue

The repositioning of US forces from Jasionka to other parts of Poland has raised questions among some analysts about the consequences for Ukraine.

The Polish border city of Rzeszow and the nearby Jasionka airport have been the logistical center and main hub for deliveries of weapons and other aid to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.

"They [the United States] have secured these facilities and have overseen the proper transport of this equipment and deliveries to Ukraine," said Zhelikhovsky. "If there aren't American troops around, will American might [still] enter Ukraine via Jasionka? That's the big question!"

The Jasionka hub will continue working as the basic logistical link for military aid to Ukraine, the US Army confirmed.

"The important work of facilitating military aid to Ukraine via Jasionka will continue under Polish and NATO leadership, supported by a streamlined US military footprint," the April 7 statement said.

Distribution of responsibilities

Repositioning of US forces will help the United States to use its resources more efficiently, many analysts say.

"It's maybe a distribution of responsibilities, inasmuch as the transfer of some obligations to US allies in NATO can attest to the intention of the US to lighten [its own] load and to stimulate European partners to take a more active role in European security," said Zhelikhovsky.

Serhiy Bratchuk, a Ukrainian Volunteer Army spokesman and a military-political correspondent, sees the move as nothing to worry about.

"Europe, in any case, is improving its own security too," he told Kontur.

"I think that nothing ... horrible has happened," said Bratchuk. "The ongoing optimization and perfection of the logistical system are keeping up with the risks and challenges that time is dictating to us today."

"That's why I see nothing horrible. In any case, everything will be continued into the future."