NATO sends forces, missiles to Russia’s borders – top security official



NATO countries are reviving Cold War-era tactics by sending troops across the Atlantic and deploying BMD weapons near Russia’s borders, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council Mikhail Popov said.
Speaking to the media Popov said that within two years the NATO Response Force has increased from 25,000 to 40,000 people, while battalion tactical groups of up to 1,000 people were deployed in the Baltic countries.
“The Cold War-era system of transatlantic deployment of troops are being revived and used to post coalition task forces to Russia’s borders,” he explained.

NATO is also preparing for a cyber war with Russia by opening centers of strategic communications in Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia, Popov said. These centers are aimed at “disabling networks of critical infrastructure of a potential adversary – first of all, of Russia.”
He also reminded of NATO’s project to ensure deployment of 30 troop battalions, 30 squadrons of aircraft, and 30 warships within 30 days in case of conflict, which was agreed in Brussels last June.
The BMD weapons deployment in European countries was another example of increased NATO operations near the borders with Russia, according to Popov. “Americans have apparently forgotten” that they deployed them in the first place to counter alleged “missile threat from Iran,” Popov said.