Berlin, Jan 16
German newspaper Bild has obtained a “secret document” prepared by the German armed forces alleging that Russia has a plan to attack NATO’s eastern flank after a successful counteroffensive against Ukraine and pushback of the Ukrainian army by June.
The classified document said that Russia might allegedly launch “cyberattacks and other forms of hybrid war” against the Baltic countries in July. Some unspecified “clashes” will follow, which Moscow would allegedly use as a pretext to start large-scale military drills on its territory, and in Belarus, the tabloid cited the military document as saying:.
The document also expects that Russia might transfer troops and medium-range missiles to its western enclave of Kaliningrad in October, which would be followed by a border conflict in the 100-kilometer (62-mile) Suwalki Gap in December.
Additionally, at the time when the United States is temporarily left “without a leader” after the presidential election, Russia, supported by Belarus, would allegedly replicate the scenario of the 2014 crisis in Ukraine on NATO territory, the newspaper reported. In May 2025, NATO will decide on deterrence measures and deploy 300,000 soldiers, including 30,000 German troops, the report added.
The German Defence Ministry has declined to comment, Bild said. The Suwalki Gap is a narrow stretch of Polish and Lithuanian territory that separates Belarus from Kaliningrad. In May 2022, a NATO Forward Presence Battlegroup (BGFP) consisting of French, Belgian, and Dutch troops was deployed in Romania. The group’s purpose is to deter and defend the alliance’s eastern flank. Its current armaments include light-armoured vehicles and tanks.
Between November 2013 and February 2014, Kiev’s Maidan Square witnessed pro-EU protests sparked by then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. The mass demonstrations led to a coup, which culminated in the ousting of Yanukovych. More than 100 people died. In April 2014, the new government in Kiev launched a military operation against the eastern Donbas region, which refused to recognise the change of Government in Kyiv.
