(CSM) BALTIYSK, RUSSIA — If the tensions between Russia and the West should escalate into full-fledged confrontation, it is this former Prussian town – home to a huge military base in the heart of NATO country – that is going to be right at the center of things.
Here, at the westernmost point of the Connecticut-sized enclave of Kaliningrad, the port bristles with warships, the streets are filled with uniforms, and there is a constant stream of naval vessels in the channel, heading out to sea to conduct patrols or war games.
Even now, unseen just over the horizon, the Russian navy is conducting major anti-submarine exercises in the Baltic Sea, the latest in a year-long series of war games designed to display Russia's defiance in the face of Western sanctions and political pressure, as well as its military readiness if worst comes to worst. […]
Read More © The Christian Science Monitor
