Russia has trained its Navy to strike targets located deep inside European territory with nuclear-tipped missiles in the context of a potential conflict with NATO. The Financial Times revealed this, citing classified files it was able to see.
The target maps – which reach locations as far away as the west coast of France and Barrow-in-Furness in the UK – are listed in a presentation for officers prior to the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The FT had previously reported, based on the same 29 secret Russian military files, that Moscow had tried to use tactical nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict with a major world power.
The latest revelations show how Russia imagined a conflict with the West that would extend far beyond the immediate borders of NATO, planning a series of attacks across Western Europe. The documents were shown to the FT by Western sources. The files, drawn up between 2008 and 2014, they include a list of objectives for missiles that can carry conventional warheads or tactical nuclear weapons. Russian officials emphasize the advantages of using nuclear strikes at an early stage.
The documents indicate that Russia has retained the ability to carry nuclear weapons on surface shipsa capability that experts say carries significant additional risks of escalation or accidents, and notes that the Navy’s “high maneuverability” allows it to deliver “preemptive and sudden strikes” and “massive missile strikes … from various directions.” It adds that nuclear weapons are “as a rule” intended for use “in combination with other means of destruction” to achieve Russia’s goals.
Analysts who have reviewed the documents said they are consistent with how NATO has assessed the threat of long-range missile attacks by the Russian navy and the speed with which Russia would likely resort to nuclear weapons.
The maps, which were produced for presentation purposes rather than operational use, illustrate a sample of 32 NATO targets in Europe for Russian naval fleets. The Russian fleet’s targets in the Baltics are largely in Norway and Germany, including the Bergen naval base, as well as radar sites and special forces facilities. The Russian Northern Fleet is expected to strike defense industrial targets, such as the submarine shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in northwest England. A target near Hull could be an industrial site.
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