Edmonton-based armed forces tank regiment leads battle group on mission to Latvia

Edmonton soldiers are making up almost 10 per cent of the Canadian operation leaving Wednesday for Latvia on a six-month mission in central and eastern Europe.

Operation Reassurance is the Canadian Armed Forces' largest current overseas military operation. About 1,900 Canadian soldiers are being deployed for the mission, 180 of them from Edmonton.

It's part of supporting NATO deterrence and defence measures after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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The commander of the multinational battle group says soldiers are excited to take on this challenge.

"It is our job to make sure that the Canadian public and those supporting the NATO countries are safe and secure," Lt.-Col. Darryn Gray told media on Wednesday at CFB Edmonton.

"It is our role to be able to ensure that we can have a home to come back to, as well as to ensure that others have a home to come back to."

The Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) armoured unit is Canada’s only tank regiment.

It's been more than a thousand days since Russia's invasion, with attacks intensifying in the last few days.

Political science professor Lori Thorlakson of the University of Alberta says people who feel "a little uneasy" about the state of the world have reason to as it's "in a very unsettled state right now."

"Not only do we have this conflict, we have this challenging of this international order that has been rebuilt carefully since the end of the Second World War," Thorlakson told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti