Russia has the potential to open a “second theater of war” if it chooses to do so, and it should not be underestimated, German Chief of General Staff General Eberhard Zorn warned in an interview with Reuters.

According to him, the main part of the Russian ground forces may be stuck in Ukraine at the moment, but even in this case, “we should not underestimate the potential of the Russian ground forces to open a second theater of war.”

Also, Russia has at its disposal naval and aviation forces, as well as significant reserves, the chief of the German General Staff drew attention.

• “The majority of the Russian Navy is not yet involved in the war with Ukraine, and the Russian Air Force still has a significant potential that poses a threat to NATO as well.
• Russia is “very capable of expanding the conflict at the regional level,” General Eberhard Zorn told Reuters.

He also said that the Russians have a huge amount of munitions at their disposal: “These munitions are partly old and very inaccurate, but they are the ones that cause significant destruction to civilian infrastructure. They fire about 40,000 to 60,000 rounds a day.”

The Bundeswehr regularly supports NATO air patrol missions in Baltic airspace with fighter jets and, with one of the strongest navies in the region, closely monitors developments in the nearby Baltic Sea.

A potential hot spot here is Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave located between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, which is home to Russia’s Baltic Fleet and hosts Russia’s Iskander nuclear missiles.

Russia has threatened to place nuclear and hypersonic weapons in Kaliningrad if Sweden and Finland join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which they both intend to do.

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