Underground exercises in London. On a disused metro platform, the repulsion of a Russian attack on the Baltic countries was rehearsed

The British army last week discreetly conducted exercises to repel a possible attack by Russia on the Baltic states. A disused metro station platform in the heart of London was used as a command center, where the response of Great Britain and other NATO countries to the aggression was planned, writes the BBC.

Hundreds of British servicemen took part in the exercises, which the army calls "one of the largest of our generation". They were held on one of the platforms of Charing Cross metro station, located near Trafalgar Square and the government street Whitehall, around which are the main ministries and the Prime Minister's residence.

British servicemen describe the operation called "Arrcade Strike" as "large-scale command exercises conducted by the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) — a deployable NATO headquarters led by the British Army".

Attack on the Baltic States: What was the scenario?

According to British media, the exercise scenario involves Russia launching an attack on Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia in 2030, leading NATO to invoke Article Five of its collective defense charter.

Sky News reports that during the exercises, journalists were shown a hypothetical television report that essentially described the start of World War Three. In it, the presenter reported that Russian forces had just attacked the three Baltic states.

Павялічыць

After this, British servicemen from the ARRC went to Estonia, where a headquarters with approximately 500 personnel from more than 20 nations was deployed. They had to coordinate the actions of approximately 100,000 NATO troops repelling Russian aggression, the publication states.

The Daily Mirror specifies that American forces joined the British military and the exercises simulated a scenario in which a London Underground platform transformed into a "bunker located somewhere in the Estonian capital Tallinn".

"The scenario you are about to see is intentionally set for 2030, because that is when we consider the threat of a Russian attack to be most acute," said ARRC commander Lieutenant General Mike Elviss in a message to exercise participants.

As Sky News notes, during other similar NATO exercises, Russia is usually not formally designated as a potential adversary. Instead, actions are practiced against some hypothetical state, which all participants unofficially still understand to mean Russia.

How the exercises took place

The British military explains that the metro station was chosen for the exercises as an example of transforming a civilian object into a military one.

"Previously, we deployed in tents and open spaces, but then moved into commercial buildings, aircraft hangars, and now — into underground locations," said one of the commanders during the exercises.

"When working underground, we leave significantly fewer traces, it's harder to detect us then, which means it increases our chances of surviving an attack," he added.

Павялічыць

"This is a lesson that Ukraine has already learned, as have our NATO partners on Europe's eastern flank," said a British Army official. "Moving underground is not an innovation; it's a survival strategy."

He explained that "the tunnels of Charing Cross station became the venue for the exercises because they are disused, have enough space to deploy a full-fledged command post, and, most importantly, are located in the very center of a large city".

"This proves that such a scheme can work even in the most challenging urban environments imaginable."

"The war in Ukraine reminded the world of an inconvenient but true fact: threats to peace in Europe are neither theoretical nor distant. Russia has mobilized its entire economy, industry, and army for war. The security of all NATO countries without exception is at stake," the army states.

From the underground command center, military operations on land, in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace were directed.

Secret Operation

The exercise organizers made every possible effort to keep their conduct unnoticed.

28-year-old British military specialist Ismaila Kissey said that he had to arrive at the metro station in civilian clothes and only change into military uniform after checking his documents.

"I remembered my London roots and dressed like everyone else in London, so as not to differ from the locals, so that no one would suspect anything. I looked like an ordinary person going to work," he says.

The serviceman's family believed he was on vacation.

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