The Russian fleet is training to hit targets inside Europe with nuclear missiles in the event of a war with NATO. According to secret files consulted by the Financial Times, the Russians are targeting three targets in Romania: the Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge, the Deveselu base and the Mihail Kogălniceanu base.
Maps of targets as far away as the west coast of France or Barrow-in-Furness in the United Kingdom are detailed in a briefing for Russian officers that preceded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The FT previously reported, based on the same archive of 29 secret Russian military files, that Moscow had repeatedly used tactical nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict with a major world power.
Now, the latest revelations show how Russia envisioned a conflict with the West that would go far beyond the immediate border with NATO, planning a series of overwhelming strikes in Western Europe. The documents were presented to the FT by Western sources.
The files, compiled between 2008 and 2014, include a list of missile targets for either conventional or tactical nuclear warheads. Russian officers highlight, according to the documents, the advantages of using nuclear strikes from an early stage.
The documents also indicate that Russia has maintained the capability to carry nuclear weapons on surface ships, a capability that, experts say, poses significant additional risks of escalation or accidents.
The documents mention that the “high maneuverability” of the navy allows for “lightning and preventive strikes” and “massive missile strikes from different directions.”
It adds that nuclear weapons are “typically” intended for use “in conjunction with other means of destruction” to achieve Russia’s objectives. Analysts who reviewed the documents stated that they align with NATO’s assessment of the threat from long-range missile attacks by the Russian navy and the likely speed at which Russia might resort to using nuclear weapons.
The maps, which were made for presentation purposes rather than operational use, the FT says, depict a sample of 32 NATO targets in Europe for Russia’s naval fleets.
Thus, the targets of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea are mostly located in Norway and Germany – including the naval base in Bergen, as well as radar sites and special forces facilities.
Russia’s North Sea fleet is expected to target industrial defense targets, such as the submarine shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in north-west England.
A target near Hull can be an industrial site – it is marked with a chimney. The presentation also illustrates how his doctrine could be applied in possible wars in the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, but also in the Pacific
Regarding the Black Sea, on the respective map there are three targets from Romania (apparently the Deveselu base, the Mihail Kogălniceanu base and the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge), two from Bulgaria and five from Turkey.
Russian scenarios include wars with current NATO allies, but also with China, Iran, Azerbaijan and North Korea.
William Alberque, a former NATO official who now works at the Stimson Center, commented that the sample of targets represents only a small fraction of “hundreds, if not thousands, of targets mapped across Europe, including military and critical infrastructure targets”.