Financial Times: Russia has been practicing nuclear strikes on targets in Europe

The Russian Navy has been training to target its nuclear-tipped missiles at targets in Europe.

This is evidenced by secret documents that the Financial Times (FT) has seen.

The documents, prepared between 2008 and 2014, contain a list of targets for missiles that can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The maps, which were probably created for presentation rather than operational use, listed 32 targets for the Russian fleet in Europe.

The targets of the Russian Baltic Fleet are mostly in Norway and Germany, including the naval base in Bergen, radar points and facilities of special forces.

Russiaʼs Northern Fleet will be able to strike defense industry facilities, such as the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, England, where warships and submarines are built.

The presentation also illustrates how Russia can operate in the Black, Caspian and Pacific seas. The map outlines, in particular, the scenarios of possible conflicts with the current friendly countries of the Russian Federation — Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, China and North Korea.

Stimson Center analyst and former NATO official William Alberk said the sample is only a small fraction of the hundreds, if not thousands, of targets across Europe actually mapped. In particular, we are talking about military facilities and critical infrastructure.

In the documents, the Russian military noted "the advantages of conducting nuclear strikes in the early stages of conflicts." The presentation also mentioned the option of a so-called demonstration strike — the detonation of nuclear weapons in a remote area during the brewing period of the conflict in order to "intimidate Western countries."

The documents emphasized the ability of Russian ships to carry nuclear weapons. They noted that the fleetʼs high maneuverability allows for sudden and preemptive strikes, as well as massive missile strikes from various directions.

The presentation also noted that nuclear weapons are usually intended to be used in combination with other means of destruction.

NATO countries are estimated to have less than 5% of the air defenses needed to protect the Allianceʼs eastern flank in the event of a Russian attack.

• In June, the Russian Armed Forces practiced loading Soviet-era P-270 anti-ship cruise missiles onto the Tarantul corvette in Kaliningrad. According to senior NATO officials, undeclared stocks of tactical nuclear warheads are stored there.
• At the end of July, it was reported that Great Britain was even considering developing long-range missiles that would be able to destroy nuclear weapons launched from Russian territory.