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A former NATO general has warned Vladimir Putin that an attack on Poland or the Baltic states would lead to a direct strike on Saint Petersburg and the destruction of Russia.

General Rajmund Andrzejczak was until quite recently the Chief of Staff of the Polish armed forces.

He stepped down from his post just before last year's elections in Poland, and now hosts his own podcast called Ground Zero.

In an interview with the German tabloid Bild, the retired General outlined the threat Russia would pose to Nato's eastern flank if it defeated Ukraine.

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"Ukraine is buying us a few years. If Russia wins in Ukraine, we would have a Russian division in Lviv, one in Brest, and one in Grodno.

"Poland and Lithuania would then be surrounded by Russian forces."

He went own to say that Russia would suffer devastating consequences if it decided to attack the NATO countries.

"If Russia attacks even an inch of Lithuanian territory, the response will come immediately.

"Not on the first day, but in the first minute. We will hit all strategic targets within a radius of 300 km. We will attack Saint Petersburg directly.

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"Russia must realise that an attack on Poland or the Baltic countries will also be its end."

Poland signed a deal earlier this year to purchase €677 million worth of US produced Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) to boost its ability to defend itself from a Russian attack.

The contract is part of a rapid modernisation of the Polish army, accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of being able to fire missiles at targets even far from the front line, and the range of the missiles to be purchased is around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles),” the Polish defence ministry said at the time.

The long range missiles are expected to be delivered over a four year period between 2026 and 2030.

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Lithuania's national security adviser Kęstutis Budrys also believes that Russia's "imperialist expansionism" will be directed at NATO's eastern flank if it wins in Ukraine.

He warned that the risk of aggression toward the EU will increase if Belarus becomes a fully integrated part of the so-called Union State.

Lithuanian Army Commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras added that the Baltic states would need to respond immediately if attacked, without waiting for NATO’s decision under Article 5 on collective defence.