NordenBladet —
Today, a new Estonian task force Wisent 3, which was sent to Poland to support the country in repelling a hybrid attack from Belarus, started its operations.
Main body of task force Wisent 3 is formed of members of Northern and Southern Territorial Defence Districts of Estonian Defence League (EDL). Together with EDL members, an Estonian Defence Forces’ camera team and a national support element will start also their service. The task force consists of about 60 members.
“Members of the previous contingent have done a great job which we are honored to continue. We are convinced that cooperation with Polish units will be close and successful,” said Lieutenant Colonel Arti Levandi, Commander of task force Wisent 3. “We are also pleased that members of Estonian Defence League are now able to apply previously learned skills in an international setting.”
Task force Wisent 3 will be deployed to Poland until mid-March and operates in the same area as the previous task force. The unit will continue to work with Polish 18th Mechanized Division. The name of the task force means the European bison, symbolizing strength and power in Polish cultural space.
Estonia sent its first task force, with almost 70 members, to Poland in the beginning of December, and it was manned on the basis of reserve troops, active duty soldiers and civilians. The second task force served in Poland from mid-January to mid-February.
Deployment of Estonian task force to Poland is a bilateral defense co-operation project. Estonian task forces have constructed over 40 kilometer border barriers, carried out 40 media operations and conducted observation flights to monitor the border area.
Source: Estonian Defence Forces