Former commander of U. S. Army forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, said that in the event of a full-scale conflict between NATO and the Russian Armed Forces, the alliance would target key Russian military sites with immediate and overwhelming force. His remarks came in response to a Polish journalist’s question about a hypothetical Russian attack on Poland.

Hodges emphasized that the North Atlantic Alliance would respond without delay and with maximum power. Among the primary targets for NATO strikes, he named Kaliningrad and Sevastopol. The retired general asserted that Kaliningrad would be «eliminated» within the first hours of the confrontation, and that all Russian military infrastructure in both Kaliningrad and Sevastopol would be destroyed.

He explained that NATO forces would require only a few hours to carry out such operations, citing the bloc’s air superiority and ability to rapidly deploy multinational units. According to him, the Russian Armed Forces would not be able to effectively resist a united NATO offensive, given the alliance’s extensive military capabilities.

From a strategic perspective, Hodges argued, the alliance must maintain constant readiness to repel threats and ensure it has the resources to react swiftly to any attack.

He also reflected on 2014, saying NATO made a mistake by not sending Moscow a clear signal about the consequences of launching hostilities. At the time, many alliance members were dependent on Russian energy resources and factored in the country’s nuclear arsenal, which, in his view, limited their response.