Russia could launch an attack against NATO 'as early as tomorrow'

A top German general has chillingly warned that Vladimir Putin could launch an attack against NATO territory as early as tomorrow. 

Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank, head of Germany's joint operations command, said that Russia retains enough combat strength to carry out a 'small, quick, regionally limited' attack, despite being heavily engaged in Ukraine.

He said: 'If you look at Russia's current capabilities and combat power, Russia could kick off a small-scale attack against NATO territory as early as tomorrow.'

He added: 'Small, quick, regionally limited, nothing big - Russia is too tied down in Ukraine for that.'

Speaking from his headquarters in northern Berlin, Sollfrank said Russia's air force and nuclear arsenal remain largely intact, and that the Kremlin still possesses enough tanks to mount a short-term offensive. 

'The ground forces are suffering losses, but Russia says it aims to boost its total troop numbers to 1.5 million soldiers,' he told Reuters.

Although Moscow's Black Sea Fleet has suffered major damage, its other naval forces remain strong, he added.

Sollfrank also warned that Russia could have the capacity to launch a much larger assault on NATO by 2029 if its ongoing rearmament continues. NATO officials have previously issued similar warnings.

The general stressed that any decision by Moscow to act would depend on how united and prepared NATO remains. 

'A Russian attack is in the realm of the possible. Whether it will happen or not depends to a large extent on our own behaviour,' he said. 

Putin, however, has denied any aggressive intentions and has consistently claimed that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a defence against NATO's expansionist ambitions against Russia. 

Sollfrank, who took charge of the newly formed joint operations command in 2024, said Russia's hybrid warfare tactics, including drone incursions and cyber operations, are part of a wider strategy to test NATO's resolve. 

He explained: 'The Russians call this non-linear warfare. In their doctrine, this is warfare before resorting to conventional weapons. And they threaten to use nuclear weapons - which is warfare by intimidation.'

 He said Moscow's goal is to provoke NATO, measure its response and spread fear.

'They want to foster insecurity, spread fear, to do damage, to spy and to test the alliance's resilience,' he added.

Since September, Putin has been accused of increasingly ordering incursions into NATO airspaces. 

Many of those have caused severe disruptions, including the spotting of drones at Copenhagen Airport in September. It forced Denmark's busiest airport to shut for several hours, leaving over 20,000 passengers stranded. 

That same month, during an overnight attack on Ukraine, several of Russia's drones crossed into Poland, with one hitting an elderly couple's home and destroying its roof. 

On 19th September, three armed Russian MiG-31 aircraft violated Estonia's airspace and stayed there for 12 minutes. 

Just this week, Brussels Airport reported drone sightings and was forced to shut for hours, causing significant delays and flight cancellations. 

NATO fighter jets have had to be deployed on several occasions in response to Putin's incursions. 

Germany, meanwhile, is significantly boosting its defence capabilities. Berlin plans to raise military spending to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2029, up from nearly €100 billion in 2025 to about €160 billion ($187 billion).

The armed forces are also expected to be expanded by 60,000 troops, bringing the total personnel to around 260,000.  

General Carsten Breuer, the country's Chief of Defence, echoed Sollfrank's warning in a separate address to senior officers in Berlin. 

He said Russia must never believe it could defeat NATO or any of its members.

'We need to look into the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, adapt them for ourselves and develop our own concepts and structures accordingly because the war in Ukraine is our teacher,' Breuer said. 

'We must prevent Russia from another miscalculation like this. Russia must never come to the assumption that it can win a war against NATO or a single NATO country.'

The warnings come after Putin revealed Russia had successfully tested its terrifying Poseidon nuclear weapon, which can cause devastating tsunami waves in coastal cities. 

Russian media have constantly said the weapon could 'drown Britain'. 

Meanwhile, Western leaders have warned Putin that any act of aggression will be met with brutal retaliation.