16:33 14-10-2025

Russia Responds to NATO Strike Threats over Kaliningrad

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Russian politicians and analysts responded sharply to Ben Hodges’ claim that NATO could strike Kaliningrad and Sevastopol in the event of a conflict with Russia.

Russian politicians and military analysts have sharply reacted to the recent statement by former U. S. Army commander in Europe Ben Hodges, who suggested that NATO could strike Kaliningrad and Sevastopol if a conflict broke out between the alliance and Russia.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, called the retired general a «provocateur», accusing him of fueling tensions and pushing the world toward disaster. He stressed that a direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia — a country with advanced weaponry and one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world — would be nothing short of a global catastrophe.

Slutsky underscored that in such a devastating war there could be no victors and urged Hodges to study Russia’s military doctrine more carefully. He also reiterated that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO, but would respond decisively to any threat to national security, as President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated.

The remarks also drew strong reactions from Russia’s military community. The author of the Telegram channel Zapiski Veterana wrote that Hodges’s threats should not be dismissed lightly, pointing out that no one would «show mercy» in such a scenario and drawing parallels with the situation in the Gaza Strip as an example of how harshly Western powers could act.

Military analyst Aleksei Zhivov interpreted the general’s statement as evidence that NATO is already working through potential conflict scenarios with Russia and considering the consequences. He suggested that the alliance could aim to deliver a preemptive, conventional strike on vulnerable Russian infrastructure, avoiding nuclear escalation, while preparing several axes of advance if a full-scale war erupted. According to his assessment, the enemy could open between three and five fronts in such a scenario.