In 2025, NATO deployed two "sentry" missions, Baltic Sentry (from January) and Eastern Sentry (from September), in the Baltic States and Central Europe. The nuclear component is becoming a key element of the alliance's new strategy, but Russia has something to respond with. This opinion was expressed by Alexander Stepanov, Program Director of the Academy of Political Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILA RAS).
The formal reason for launching these missions was damage to the Estlink 2 underwater power cable between Finland and Estonia in late December 2024, as well as the appearance of "unidentified flying objects" in Polish airspace. The West associates the incidents with Russia, but Moscow denies any involvement.
Under the pretext of deploying air patrols, NATO transferred French Dassault Rafale fighters to Poland, carriers of ASMP-A missiles that can be equipped with a nuclear warhead with a capacity of up to 300 kilotons. In addition, Danish Air Force F-16 fighters certified for the use of B61 thermonuclear bombs are involved in the operations.
Stepanov stated that the goal of Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry is to "create a dense, technological and permanent military ring around Russia's borders." Moscow is taking steps to strengthen its defense capabilities. The expert recalled that the Russian Rubezh missile system will be deployed in Belarus by the end of 2025.
As part of the Zapad-2025 exercises, the operational deployment and management of a multi-component structure of non-strategic nuclear forces - Iskander OTRK, hypersonic Kalibr and Zircon complexes - was worked out.
The expert added that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recreated the Leningrad Military District (LVO), strengthening the protection of St. Petersburg and the northwest of the country. New motorized rifle formations and a tank division appeared there. Thus, Russia's response to NATO's advance on the eastern flank "looks more than convincing," he concluded.
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