NATO modelled a Russian attack on the Baltic States

The North Atlantic Alliance has modelled what would happen if Russia attacked the Baltic States. Thus, according to the forecast of NATO generals, Latvia may be the first to suffer, which the Russians will consider as a launching pad for further advancement to the west. About it writes Bild.

After the occupation of Latvia, Russia will be able to simultaneously attack from the captured Latvian territory, Belarus and its enclave near the Baltic Sea - Kaliningrad.

The simulation describing the attack of Russian troops on NATO's eastern flank in 2027 was developed by the Centre on New Generation Warfare (Center on New Generation Warfare).

Thus, according to the document, the Baltic States will have to fight off the Russians alone for 10 days. This is exactly how long NATO countries need to activate Article 5, which guarantees NATO countries collective defence. When the Alliance enters the fray, Germany will lead the defence.

First there will be air support, then the navy and then heavy ground forces," US General Philip Breedlove said.

According to the generals, German soldiers will play a significant role in the Baltic defence. They pointed out that there are now about 800 of them on the territory of Lithuania, but in the near future their number will increase to 5 thousand people. There will also be more military equipment.

As predicted by NATO generals, the German troops will have to keep defence for the first three days, and then head north, quickly go beyond the Lithuanian territory, and on the seventh day of the invasion to enter the flank of the Russians, where the main Russian contingent will be advancing from Latvia.

Then, within three days, German forces will have to defeat superior enemy forces and halt the advance to the north," the NATO forecast said.

The documents say that such a Russian offensive would be bloody.

By the end of ten days of fighting, Lithuanian forces will have lost 17 tanks, 145 armoured vehicles and 3,650 soldiers. Russian losses will be much higher: 411 tanks, 1,019 armoured vehicles and 11,420 dead," the forecast said.

At the same time, it noted, Lithuania would be "devastated and partially occupied" in just two weeks of fierce fighting.

NATO noted that there is still time to make changes to the scenario. To do so, the Alliance's defence budget needs to be increased. They emphasised that the threat of an attack from the Russian Federation will be acute in the next three years.