ISW: Putin Begins Preparations For Large-Scale War Against NATO

US analysts have pointed to an important signal.

On February 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two decrees that officially reestablish the Moscow and Leningrad military districts, meeting Moscow's alleged goal of preparing for military aggression against the North Atlantic Alliance. This is stated in the February 26 report of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

According to analysts, the above-mentioned decree of the Russian president officially disbanded the Western Military District (WMD), which the Russian Defence Ministry formed in 2010 by combining the MMD and LMD.

It is reported that the Western Military District previously covered the Russian border with Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, and its strategic tasks included monitoring the Russian Armed Forces' operations in Ukraine after the outbreak of the full-scale war, as well as preparing for a possible confrontation with NATO.

According to ISW, the LMD will now run along NATO's northeastern border, while the MMD will run along northeastern Ukraine and Poland. Analysts believe that this will allow Moscow to "take a stand" against NATO and simplify the command and control of military operations in Ukraine simultaneously.

The authors of the report also pointed out that Putin mentioned the need to establish the LMD after Finland joined NATO in 2023. According to analysts, in this way the politician signalled the Kremlin's intention to use the LMD to confront NATO.

"The reestablishment of the MMD and the LMD fulfils the parallel goals of consolidating control over Russian operations in Ukraine in the short and medium term and preparing for a potential future large-scale conventional war against NATO in the long term," ISW concluded.