WSJ: Germany drafts secret plan for war with Russia

Germany is developing a contingency plan in case of an armed conflict with Russia.

Work on the plan began slightly more than two years ago with the involvement of government and military structures, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

According to the newspaper, the plan, called OPLAN DEU, envisages deploying up to 800,000 NATO troops, including German and US units, to the east, toward a hypothetical front line.

Sources told the newspaper that the document is highly detailed, with maps marking bridges, ports, highways, and rivers intended for troop movements.

OPLAN DEU (also known as Operation Deutschland) was drawn up by the Bundeswehr in 2023–2024 to prepare Germany and NATO for a potential large-scale conflict with Russia.

Key infrastructure — highways (notably the A2 motorway), ports, railways and bridges — would be repurposed for military mobilisation; special contingency routes and alternative transport corridors are planned in case main routes are disrupted.

The plan is not solely military: it outlines coordination between civilian and state institutions for logistics, supplies, civil defence, and infrastructure protection — reflecting an “all-of-society” approach to deterrence and readiness.

To support OPLAN DEU, the Bundeswehr is establishing a new homeland‑security division: this will substantially expand Germany’s domestic defence capacity and assign to it the protection of critical infrastructure, transport routes and key logistic nodes crucial for the movement and supply of NATO forces.

By Jeyhun Aghazada