NATO’s eastern flank plan is preparation for aggression against Russia, says Duma member

SIMFEROPOL, October 7. /TASS/. NATO’s Theory of Victory defense plan for the alliance’s eastern flank amounts to preparations for aggression against Russia and is also intended to pressure member states into increasing defense spending, State Duma member and retired Major General Leonid Ivlev said.

Bloomberg previously reported that NATO’s military command had drafted a new "defense" plan for the alliance’s eastern flank, incorporating drones and artificial intelligence. The plan, which journalists had reviewed, was dubbed the Theory of Victory. Meanwhile, Poland’s Defense Ministry announced plans to establish new military units and deploy Patriot air defense systems in the country’s east, near the border with Belarus.

"In reality, the Theory of Victory plan is not merely a simulation and preparation for aggression against Russia; it is also a way to lobby NATO partners to increase defense spending instead of addressing pressing social issues, particularly those affecting students and pensioners in Western European countries," Ivlev said.

He noted that NATO’s new strategy draws on lessons from the Ukraine conflict and combines conventional weapons with advanced technologies, including low-cost drones, systems requiring minimal crew involvement, and artificial intelligence-assisted target acquisition.

"It is a NATO tradition to always wrap its aggressive intentions in honeyed rhetoric," Ivlev said. "From the 'Dropshot' nuclear strike plan (a US-developed plan for a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union - TASS) to the Strategic Defense Initiative, plans to attack Russia using modern scientific and technological advances have consistently been presented under peace-oriented names intended to mislead the public."

At the plenary session of the 23rd meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in the event of a direct attack on Russia, specifically against the Kaliningrad Region or other Russian regions, the issue of using all weapons available to the Russian Armed Forces would inevitably and immediately come to the fore.