NATO's Neptune Strike 2025 Naval Drills Simulate Attacks on Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg

NATO has launched its Neptune Strike military exercises in the Baltic Sea on Monday, September 22, with Russian experts warning that the drills are effectively rehearsals for a blockade of St. Petersburg and the Kaliningrad region, according to Izvestia.

Military analyst Vasily Dandykin noted that although NATO officially presents the maneuvers as defensive, their underlying purpose is clear.

“First and foremost, the goal is to exert pressure on St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. These areas host our naval bases and are major shipbuilding centers,”

he said.

His assessment was echoed by military expert Viktor Litovkin, who emphasized that the alliance is also practicing methods of disrupting maritime trade routes.

“Another possible objective is rehearsing attacks on facilities located on our territory,”

he explained.

The concerns come against the backdrop of NATO’s ongoing naval presence in the Baltic. In June, Izvestia reported that a US Navy Arleigh Burke–class destroyer armed with Tomahawk missiles entered the Baltic Sea to join the alliance’s Baltops 2025 exercises. Later that month, US Navy ships USS Paul Ignatius and USS Mount Whitney left Baltops ahead of schedule, highlighting the shifting dynamics of NATO’s deployments in the region.

The latest maneuvers underline growing friction in the Baltic theater, where both Russia and NATO view naval strategy as critical to maintaining influence and security.