Commander of Luftwaffe Threatens Russia With Strikes on Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg in Event of Attack on NATO

Lieutenant General Holger Neumann, Commander of the German Air Force, stated that NATO would launch devastating strikes against Russia in the event of an attack on any Alliance country.

He made these remarks in an interview with the British daily newspaper The Telegraph.

According to Neumann, the German military is ready to immediately engage in combat and defend “every inch of NATO territory.” He emphasized that the Alliance does not divide its members into more or less important ones, so an attack on the Baltic states would have the same consequences as an attack on the United Kingdom or Germany.

“If it comes to a conflict, we will defend every inch of our territory. There are no zones with different levels of security within NATO,” the Luftwaffe commander stated.

Among potential targets in the event of war, he named the Kaliningrad region, the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia, the St. Petersburg area, and the Black Sea, where the Russian fleet is based.

Neumann emphasized that the Alliance’s response would have the upper hand over Russian forces, as the air forces of all 32 NATO countries could be deployed in combat operations. At the same time, the general urged against underestimating the Russian Aerospace Forces. In his view, the Russian military has adapted to the conditions of the war against Ukraine and gained significant combat experience.

He also noted that Russia continues to operate modern Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets, as well as MiG-31 interceptors. Additionally, cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles pose a serious threat.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that Russia is preparing the infrastructure of a military air base in the Kaliningrad region to protect aircraft from possible strikes. Construction of four new aircraft hangars began at the Chkalovsk naval air base in late April 2026.