NATO's Europe commander warns Moscow with 'theory of victory' in Warsaw

The Wall Street Journal reported that a secret NATO plan, approved three months ago, would use long-range missiles against Russian command posts and air-defence sites in the Kaliningrad exclave, near St Petersburg and in Belarus if Russia attacked a NATO member, according to Azerbaijani outlets Musavat and Haqqin.az, which cited the newspaper. The plan would also create a drone and robot "autonomous zone" along NATO's eastern flank, the newspaper reported.

NATO's top military commander in Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, set out a "theory of victory" against Russia at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday. "If someone is reckless enough to attack us, we will fight," Grynkewich said, according to Reuters.

Grynkewich said NATO would not limit its response to the units that carried out an attack. If an aggressor brought in more forces, he said, the alliance would aim to destroy the whole military system behind the offensive, including the structures that supply and direct it, so that an attack on any member state would prove completely useless.

Colonel Martin O'Donnell, Grynkewich's spokesman, said the concept was simple: maintaining NATO's existing advantage, in line with the alliance's deterrence and defence plans. NATO needed to create the conditions to deter any aggression and, if necessary, to win in case of attack, O'Donnell said, citing an unstable and complex global security environment.

The warning comes as Western officials voice growing concern over what they describe as a Russian hybrid campaign of sabotage and interference targeting Ukraine's supporters, following incidents including the discovery of an explosives-laden drone at a German airport, Digi24 reported. Separately, a Lithuanian think tank ran a tabletop simulation examining how Lithuania's partners, NATO and the Kremlin might react to instability in Kaliningrad, according to Lithuanian outlets.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told member states at the end of September to stay calm, carry on as before and keep supporting Ukraine, adding that the alliance must not be naive about Russia but that it is stronger, and Russia knows it.

Separately, NATO forces have been testing rapid troop mobilisation in Romania, where the battle group based at Cincu could grow to 5,000 soldiers, according to G4Media, Stirile ProTV, Digi24 and Antena 3. This year's forum is the 13th edition of the Warsaw Security Forum, running over two days from 12 October, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed the gathering by video link, also attending; Norway is this year's partner country. Tusk called on the whole West to be firmer with Russia, AFP reported.