Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that Russia threatens security in Europe as he visited Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany's first permanent overseas military unit since World War II, aimed at bolstering NATO's eastern flank.
The decision to build up a 5,000-strong armoured brigade in Lithuania over the coming years came in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"There is a threat to us all from Russia," Mr Merz told reporters in the capital Vilnius. "We are protecting ourselves against this threat, and that is why we are here today."
The German deployment is aimed at deterring potential Russian aggression towards Lithuania and fellow Baltic countries Estonia and Latvia, former Soviet republics that have become NATO and EU members and fear they are increasingly in Russia's crosshairs.
While Germany has joined multinational military missions, including in Afghanistan and Mali, a pacifist tradition stemming from its dark World War II history meant Berlin was generally reluctant to do more.
The establishment of a permanent brigade overseas is an unprecedented move for the Bundeswehr, as the German armed forces are known, in the post-war era.
Mr Merz, who became Chancellor this month, will participate in a ceremony in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius that officially marks the formation of the heavy combat unit, the 45th tank brigade, also known as the "Lithuania Brigade".
This will be an "important milestone on the path to the permanent stationing of a German brigade on NATO's eastern flank", deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer said last week.
The brigade, to consist of around 4,800 troops and 200 civilian Bundeswehr employees, will be gradually deployed over the coming years and should reach full operational capability by 2027.
An advance party of around 400 Bundeswehr personnel are already in the country, according to the defence ministry.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda hailed Mr Merz's visit as a sign of Germany's "commitment to strengthen the deterrence and defence of our country and the entire NATO eastern flank".
Mr Merz, who has vowed to build up Europe's "strongest conventional army" by ramping up defence spending, will be keen to use the trip to highlight that Germany is taking on a bigger role on the international stage amid dizzying political upheavals.
US President Donald Trump has heaped pressure on fellow NATO members to increase defence spending, sparked fears about American commitment to Europe, and caused shock with his overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he pushes for a Ukraine peace deal.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who joined Mr Merz on the visit, said last month that the Lithuanian deployment "sends a strong message of solidarity and readiness".
"Germany is stepping up," he added during events to mark the 70th anniversary of Germany joining the 32-member NATO military alliance.
Lithuania, with a population of 2.8 million, borders both the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus, and the German defence ministry considers it to be "the most endangered state on NATO's eastern flank".
There have been signs of Russia ramping up hostile activities, with Russia frequently accused of using "hybrid warfare" tactics in the Baltic Sea.
This month, a Russian spy plane was spotted in Belarus apparently attempting to observe a multinational NATO military exercise in Lithuania, news outlet Der Spiegel reported.
However, Germany's troop deployment is not without its difficulties.
Some question whether the Bundeswehr, suffering from personnel and equipment shortages after years of underfunding, is prepared for what the defence ministry describes as "one of the most complex and ambitious projects" in its history.
While Germany has been seeking to channel more funds to the military, new equipment will take years to order and produce.
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr, which is aiming to boost its number of soldiers to 203,000 by 2031, has been struggling to recruit.
Parliament in January passed a law aimed at making the military a more attractive career, including more flexible working arrangements and greater financial incentives.
Russia appoints Mariupol siege commander as land forces chief
Meanwhile, Russia appointed a key commander of the gruelling siege of Mariupol, General Andrey Mordvichev, as head of the ground forces, the official newspaper of the Russian army reported.
Defence Minister Andrey Belousov described the 49-year-old general as "an experienced combat officer who fully demonstrated his talent as a military commander during the special military operation," using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive, according to the Red Star newspaper.
Russian forces rolled into Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea coast city with a pre-war population of 540,000, in the first months of its assault in 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch.
The city, which used to be an important hub for Ukraine's grain trade, became Russia’s biggest gain in its military campaign but two-thirds of its pre-war population has fled and the siege resulted in massive destruction.
Ukraine's SBU security services accused Gen Mordvichev of having spearheaded the siege of Azovstal, a large steel plant held by members of the Azov brigade, which has ties to far-right nationalist groups.
The plant was Ukraine's final pocket of resistance in the city.
Ukraine sees Gen Mordvichev as a war criminal, accusing him of overseeing atrocities against Ukrainian civilians and soldiers.
In February 2024, the general led the capture of Avdiivka, an industrial town in eastern Ukraine, following a bloody three-month assault.
For this, he received a personal telegram of appreciation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gen Mordvichev, born in Kazakhstan, has served in the Russian army since 1997 and has held various commanding positions since 2016.
His predecessor, Oleg Salyukov, 70, was removed by President Putin last week and immediately appointed deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, an important advisory body that meets regularly with Mr Putin.
