Berlin, 14 February 2022 (dpa/MIA) - The German military has begun reinforcing NATO's battle group in Lithuania, as fears of war with Russia grow amid the Ukraine crisis. The first trucks with supplies for additional soldiers set off from Munster in Lower Saxony in the morning, a dpa photographer reported. Six self-propelled howitzers on heavy-duty trucks were also scheduled to leave later in the day. Germany is sending around 350 additional soldiers with around 100 vehicles to the NATO unit in Lithuania, which is under its command. The Luftwaffe air force has already brought the first Bundeswehr soldiers to Kaunas in south-central Lithuania. The main focus of enhancing the battle group is on the army's artillery with the self-propelled howitzer 2000. The reinforcements consist of reconnaissance, NBC [nuclear, biological, chemical] defence, military police and medical forces, among others, according to the German Defence Ministry.