A NATO commander has issued a stark warning that its forces could swiftly seize Russia’s Kaliningrad region “in a timeframe that is unheard of”. General Christopher Donahue, the head of US Army Europe and Africa, made the bold statement as the alliance unveiled a new Eastern Flank defence strategy at the Association of the US Army’s LandEuro conference on Wednesday.
Donahue detailed the new Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, which aims to bolster ground-based capabilities, enhance cooperation, and ensure swift mobilisation in response to Russian threats. Addressing the issue of Kaliningrad specifically, Donahue claimed modern allied capabilities could “take that down from the ground” with speed. He said: “We’ve already planned that and we’ve already developed it. The mass and momentum problem that Russia poses to us… We’ve developed the capability to make sure that we can stop that mass and momentum problem.”
Kaliningrad, a small oblast just 47 miles across, lies between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and has been subject to intense militarisation by Russia since the Soviet Union’s dissolution.
Russian officials have issued stark warnings that any NATO strike on Kaliningrad would be seen as a direct attack on Russia itself.
Leonid Slutsky, the head of Russia’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, has even threatened “corresponding retaliatory measures, including the use of nuclear weapons”.
He accused Donahue of expressing “a plan to unleash World War 3 with a subsequent global standoff [and] no winners”.
Slutsky said: “An attack on the Kaliningrad region will mean an attack on Russia, with all due retaliatory measures – stipulated, among other things, by its nuclear doctrine.”
Once known as Königsberg and annexed by the Soviet Union post-World War II under the Potsdam Agreement, Kaliningrad now serves as a symbol of Russia’s strength within NATO’s borders.
As one of Europe’s most heavily militarised areas, Kaliningrad is home to substantial Russian military forces, advanced air defence systems, naval units, and reportedly nuclear-capable missiles.