Russian Navy conducts training to target European bases with nuclear-capable missiles
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, conflicts between Russia and Western countries (NATO), including the United States and Europe, have intensified, raising the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. According to the foreign media Financial Times, Russia has been conducting training to target European bases using nuclear-capable missiles in a conflict with NATO.
Russian navy trained to target sites inside Europe with nuclear-capable missiles
Leaked Documents Reveal Russian Navy's Training for Nuclear Strikes, Including on Allies
In February 2024, 29 hidden files believed to have been created between 2008 and 2014 were leaked in Russia, containing presentation materials for naval officers discussing the operational principles of using tactical nuclear weapons, as well as war scenarios. The hidden files also listed attack targets for 32 nuclear weapons in Europe.
According to the Financial Times, the targets of the Baltic Fleet , based in Kaliningrad in western Russia, are naval bases, radar sites and special forces facilities in Norway and Germany, while the Northern Fleet , headquartered in Murmansk in northern Russia, is expected to attack defense industry facilities, including submarine shipyards in northwest England.
The Russian Navy is also discussing nuclear attack capabilities in the event of a conflict in the Black or Caspian Seas, or in the Pacific region.
'The principle will be to use a combination of nuclear weapons and other means of destruction to achieve Russian objectives,' the document said. 'Sudden preemptive attacks by highly maneuverable naval forces, including massive missile strikes from multiple directions, will be key.'
'Any war Russia wages is essentially an all-out war,' said Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control researcher at the Mildbury Institute for International Studies. 'If Russian forces were to engage NATO forces in frontline states like
Lewis added, 'They see tactical nuclear warheads as weapons to win wars, and if war breaks out, the use of nuclear weapons will be on the table.'
The leaked Russian military documents also present an option called a 'demonstration strike,' a plan to use nuclear weapons far from the region during a 'threat period' before an actual conflict begins, to instill fear in Western countries. 'They seem to want the fear of Russia using nuclear weapons to be the magic key to gain an advantage over the West,' said William Alberg of NATO's Center for Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The Russian military has also stated that its top priority in any conflict with NATO would be to 'degrade the enemy's potential military and economic power,' which some analysts argue could mean attacking civilian facilities and critical infrastructure, as Russia has done in its conflict with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, NATO is seriously lacking the air defense capabilities it needs to protect its European allies in the event of a full-scale nuclear attack from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that 'Europe will one day be defenseless if the Russian military launches missile attacks.'
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