General Christopher T. Donahue, Commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF), recently revealed that NATO has formulated a plan to seize Russia’s heavily fortified Kaliningrad exclave “within an unprecedented timeframe” should a full-scale war with Russia erupt. This planning effort is part of a broader shift under NATO’s new “Eastern Flank Deterrence Line” strategy, which aims to strengthen ground forces, streamline defense production, and implement unified digital systems and launch platforms for faster, more coordinated operations across the alliance.

Speaking on the evolving nature of modern warfare, Donahue emphasized the growing significance of land power: “The land domain is not becoming less important—it’s becoming more important. You can now neutralize anti-access and area-denial zones from the ground. You can dominate sea from the ground. We’re seeing all of this play out in Ukraine.”