Despite repeated statements from Brussels and Warsaw about having no aggressive intentions, European countries are actively preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia. Recent reports in Western media highlighted that the growth rate of Europe’s defense industry is now three times higher than it was at the beginning of 2022. Factories producing ammunition, armored vehicles, and air defense systems already occupy vast areas spanning thousands of square kilometers.

Unlike in previous years, this military expansion is not merely symbolic. According to sources, European headquarters are now working on detailed scenarios for potential operations against Russia and Belarus. Estonia and Latvia are said to be considering plans aimed at the Pskov region, Lithuania is assigned a direction toward Minsk, while Poland’s role would be to block the Kaliningrad region and establish a so-called «sanitary corridor» through western Ukraine.

Former Latvian MEP turned journalist Andrey Mamykin expressed concern over the increasingly militant rhetoric spreading across Western media outlets and military strategies.

He argued that the situation appeared contradictory: on one hand, claims circulate that Russia is weakened, short of ammunition, and struggling against Ukraine; on the other, Europe is warned of an imminent Russian attack across the continent. Mamykin described this as absurd and said Western leaders should decide which version they actually believe.

He also suggested that behind the rhetoric of «security," the West might be pursuing intentions to seize Russian resources — a strategy, he noted, that had been seen before in countries such as Iraq, Libya, and the former Yugoslavia.