Tensions are rising in Europe in the wake of allegations that President Vladimir Putin’s regime was responsible for a nerve gas attack on double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia which left both fighting for their lives in Salisbury.
And the map – published by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies – offers a timely reminder of the risks should things escalate.
The map reveals the ranges of various Russian land attack, air defence and naval strike weapons close to its borders, with vast numbers of weapons located in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland.
It demonstrates how the Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – are all well within range of Russia’s Iskander M ballistic missiles, which carry devastating 1,500-pound high-explosive warheads.
These weapons are also capable of reaching hundreds of miles into Poland, with NATO’s strategically important base at Zagan just within reach.
Points of reference for naval weapons are fixed – and these would obviously vary in the case of a real conflict.
With NATO, the map details the range of the alliance’s land-attack naval weapons and air defences, together with the location of key ports of debarkations (PODs) where it could land reinforcements by air and sea.
In 2014, a series of simulations undertaken by the US-based Research and Development corporation (RAND) concluded that as things stand, NATO was incapable of defending the Baltic States in the event of a military conflict.
The war games suggested that in such circumstances, the longest it would take Russian forces to reach Tallinn and Riga, the capitals of Estonia and Latvia respectively, was 60 hours.
An article by analyst Robert Beckhausen on the nationalinterest.org website concluded: “In the event of a military conflict over the Baltic States, Russian missiles in Kaliningrad could target NATO troops heading from Poland.
“That could slow reinforcements were Russia to invade Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
“The Baltics would need those NATO reinforcements to have a chance, slim as it would be, to stop a vastly more numerous Russian army.”
Mr Beckhausen added: “Air defences ring Russia’s Western periphery. S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles cover half of Poland and overlap in concentric circles over the Baltic States – requiring NATO to neutralise these sites during a conflict before its aircraft could provide cover for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
“But the map also displays Russia’s clear vulnerabilities.
“NATO warships with Tomahawk missiles could easily reach Russia’s biggest cities – and strike the centre of government power – from considerable distance away.
“In short – a war would be chaotic, brutal and terrible.”