NATO Plotting 'Takeover' of Russia's Baltic Stronghold, Putin Aide Claims
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Nikolai Patrushev claimed on Tuesday that NATO is plotting to seize Russia's Kaliningrad, an exclave surrounded by members of the military alliance.
Patrushev, who previously served as secretary of Russia's Security Council, made the comment in an interview with Kremlin newswire Tass.
Newsweek has contacted NATO for comment by email.
Why It Matters
Patrushev, one of Putin's closest allies, previously worked alongside the Russian leader at the KGB in St. Petersburg. He is a prominent advocate of the Kremlin's hard-line policies and has publicly defended Putin's decision to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Frequently touted as the most-likely successor to Putin, Patrushev's views are widely seen as closely aligned with those of the president.
File photo: Vladimir Putin, right, accompanied by Nikolai Patrushev, listens on in Moscow, January 16, 2020.
File photo: Vladimir Putin, right, accompanied by Nikolai Patrushev, listens on in Moscow, January 16, 2020.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty Images
What To Know
Kaliningrad is a strategically important Russian port city on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, located in Kaliningrad region. It is a territory separate from the rest of Russia and bordered by NATO members Lithuania and Poland.
Patrushev alleged that NATO forces are actively rehearsing for the region's capture under the guise of routine military exercises in the Baltic Sea.
Last June, about 9,000 troops from 20 NATO countries took part in drills in the area, which involved submarine detection, sea mine sweeps, landings and medical response to mass casualty scenarios.
And this week, NATO's maritime search-and-rescue exercise, Dynamic Mercy, kicked off in the Baltic Sea.
Patrushev has previously accused the West of seeking to logistically isolate Kaliningrad.
"The countries of the West are trying to complicate cargo and passenger transit to Kaliningrad to the maximum extent in order to isolate the Kaliningrad region and to disrupt transport links with the main territory of Russia," Tass quoted Patrushev as saying last fall.
Patrushev's remarks come at a time of escalating tensions between Russia and the West, driven largely by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Western intelligence agencies have increasingly warned of the growing risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO in the near future.
Meanwhile, in a show of force, Russia carried out military drills off Kaliningrad's coast in recent weeks, practicing using hypersonic missiles to repel a simulated air and sea assault.
What People Are Saying
Nikolai Patrushev told Tass in an interview published on Tuesday: "For the second year in a row, NATO is holding the largest exercises in decades near our borders, where it is practicing scenarios of offensive actions over a large area—from Vilnius to Odesa, the takeover of the Kaliningrad region, the blocking of shipping in the Baltic and Black Seas, and preventive strikes on the permanent bases of Russian nuclear deterrent forces."
What Happens Next
Russia and Belarus are planning to conduct a joint strategic exercise this fall dubbed Zapad 2025. It is expected to "simulate a large-scale conflict with NATO and will likely feature cyberattacks, nuclear signaling, and pressure across the Baltic Sea and High North," according to the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank.
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