Russia has trained its naval forces to strike NATO targets in Europe, including using nuclear-capable missiles, in preparation for a possible conflict with the alliance, according to a new report.
Files from between 2008 and 2014, seen by the Financial Times, show a list of NATO targets across the continent for potential, widespread Russian missile strikes using either conventional warheads or tactical nuclear weapons.
Russia's Baltic Fleet would home in on sites largely in Norway and Germany, including Oslo's large naval base in Bergen, the newspaper reported. Reportedly among earmarked targets for Moscow's Northern Fleet is a submarine shipyard in northwest England.
The documents were shown to the FT by Western sources, the newspaper reported, adding that the maps of targets were "for presentational purposes rather than operational use."
These strikes would put NATO assets dotted all over the continent—and far behind any frontline land clashes on the eastern flank—in danger immediately during a conflict with Russia, analysts told the outlet.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry and NATO for comment via email.
Although the documents are from before the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the more than two years of war in the country have brought discussions around nuclear weapons firmly back to the fore.
"The idea of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, has become a subject of debate," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said a few months after Moscow's troops flooded into Ukraine.
Prominent Russian officials, such as former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Russian state television commentators have frequently alluded to or directly referenced the prospect of nuclear war. Some state media hosts and guests have suggested Moscow launch nuclear strikes on countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., that support Kyiv's war effort.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that he would not rule out adapting Russia's nuclear doctrine, which maps out the circumstances in which Moscow would use nuclear weapons.
The Kremlin leader described European nations backing Ukraine as "more or less defenseless." Days earlier, Putin said smaller, "densely populated" European NATO nations providing support to Kyiv "should be aware of what they are playing with."
Reports earlier this year suggested Russia had practiced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons early on in a potential war with another major world power. Tactical nuclear weapons are less destructive than strategic nuclear weapons with larger warheads, but still hugely powerful in destroying smaller targets on the battlefield.
The secret Russian files reportedly describe the navy as able to launch "sudden and pre-emptive blows" and "massive missile strikes," while Moscow military officials underlined the benefits of early-stage nuclear attacks.
"They want the fear of Russian nuclear weapon use to be the magic key that unlocks Western acquiescence," former NATO official William Alberque told the FT.
Russia's Black Sea naval fleet has taken significant and damaging hits around Ukraine, but Moscow nonetheless maintains formidable naval strength elsewhere. Its submarine fleet is considered particularly strong, while its surface fleet has fallen behind.
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