BRITISH troops are being deployed to to Eastern Europe to prepare for the worst as Russia mobilises its army. A “sizeable” amount of forces are now being moved in to counter any Russian aggression, a UK defence secretary has revealed.

Full details of the deployment would be confirmed at a meeting of NATO leaders in Poland on Friday which will be attended by David Cameron.

The build-up comes amid growing tensions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Crimea and fears among the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Latvia that they are next on Moscow’s hit list.

RAF Typhoons are already patrolling the skies over the Baltics ready to pounce on Russian jets should they launch pre-invasion air raids. Russia’s strongman leader Vladimir Putin is also furious with Poland for allowing the US to locate its missile defence shield on its territory – effectively rendering his missiles redundant because they can be shot down.

Already the Kremlin has threatened to rocket the missile launch sites before they are ready which would lead to NATO striking back at Russia – raising the possibility of a major European conflict.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “I shall be with the Prime Minister in Warsaw and we shall be pledging there a commitment to deploy additional troops on the eastern side of NATO as a direct measures of reassurance, particularly to Poland and to the Baltic States, that feel threatened by the Russian build-up.

“And some of the very aggressive moves we have seen from Russia, not least of course in the invasion of Crimea and the continuing insurrection in eastern Ukraine.”