NATO's Canadian-led Multinational Brigade Latvia has moved its entire force east from Ādaži towards the Russian and Belarusian borders for the first time, in the Resolute Reforger 2026 exercise running from 26 October to 8 November.
About 3,000 soldiers and 1,000 pieces of military equipment are taking part, the Latvian Ministry of Defence said, making it the largest force deployment exercise the brigade has held in the country. Roughly 2,000 of the soldiers based at Ādaži are members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Canada has led the NATO presence in Latvia since 2017 under Operation REASSURANCE, its largest overseas military mission. The exercise tests whether a brigade built to deter a Russian attack can reach the eastern border regions, supply itself there and fight under one command.
The deployment
Troops and equipment travelled by road and rail from the Ādaži and Ceri bases between 26 October and 2 November. Exercise activity is planned in the municipalities of Ogre, Jēkabpils, Aizkraukle, Daugavpils, Alūksne, Balvi, Gulbene, Madona, Rēzekne and Augšdaugava and in the city of Rēzekne.
Tanks, infantry, medics and engineers are taking part, and the field phase includes building defensive positions in eastern Latvia. Canadian CH-146 Griffon helicopters are flying in support of the units.
Units are due to clear the training areas and return to base between 4 and 8 November. The brigade told residents to expect more military convoys on roads between the bases and the training areas and short traffic slowdowns, and said all military vehicles would follow Latvian traffic law.
Before moving east, the brigade carried out a combat readiness evaluation at Ādaži with artillery, tanks and infantry.
The command
Brigade commander Colonel David Brassard said the exercise would show the brigade can deploy combat-ready forces over long distances, sustain them in the field and keep command, control and communications working throughout. He said the exercise also tests operating away from base, integrating allied units and communicating across a dispersed battlefield.
The brigade demonstrated its supply and support elements at Jēkabpils airfield on 2 November, including logistics, medical and military police units. Troops there handled more than 80,000 litres of diesel and 7,000 food rations, Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported.
The exercise also covers closer cooperation with Latvia's National Armed Forces, whose own national defence exercise, Namejs 2026, ran across the country from 2 September to 8 October.
The brigade
The brigade draws troops from 14 countries: Albania, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Denmark and Sweden each provide a mechanised battalion, and the Swedish battalion of up to 600 soldiers joined in January 2025 after the Swedish parliament approved a long-term deployment.
The brigade grew out of the Canadian-led NATO battlegroup set up in Latvia in 2017. It was established in July 2024 and took command of the battlegroup at Ādaži on 17 October 2024. The Latvian Ministry of Defence said in June 2026 that the brigade had reached full combat readiness this year.
The brigade sits under NATO's Multinational Division North, which has headquarters at Ādaži and at Karup in Denmark and commands NATO land forces in Latvia and Estonia.
The threat
Rēzekne, one of the exercise locations, is about 40 kilometres from the Russian border. On 7 May 2026 a drone that crossed from Russia crashed into an oil depot in the city operated by East-West Transit, damaging four empty fuel storage tanks, after air raid alerts in the Balvi, Ludza and Rēzekne regions.
Baltic governments have accused the Russian government of a campaign of hybrid attacks across the region, including drone incursions, sabotage and cyber attacks, since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Canadian commitment
Carney announced in Riga on 26 August 2025 that Canada would extend Operation REASSURANCE by three years to 2029. At the time the government said up to 2,200 Canadian Armed Forces members would be persistently deployed with the brigade by 2026, up from about 1,500 in February 2025.
At the NATO summit in Ankara in July 2026, Carney extended the mission again, to 2031, and raised the planned persistent Canadian deployment to up to 2,600 personnel, according to his office's readout of a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs. Canada also announced an expanded role in Multinational Division North.
Canada has spent more than $315 million on military infrastructure in Latvia through the mission, and work has begun on a further $70 million upgrade to its base. A Canadian tank squadron of 15 Leopard 2 main battle tanks is deployed with the brigade.
Previous exercises
The brigade's first full field exercise, Resolute Warrior 2024, brought more than 3,500 troops together from 1 to 14 November 2024 across central and northern Latvia, with British troops playing the opposing force. Resolute Warrior 25 followed from 1 to 10 November 2025 across central and eastern Latvia and focused on combat readiness.
