Russian naval officers discussed nuking Berlin during a training exercise to unnerve Germany and erode support for Ukraine, report says

• Russian naval officers chatted last year about nuking Berlin and two military bases in Germany, per Der Spiegel.
• The military bases — Ramstein and Buchel — are both used by the US military.
• The Times of London reported that the chatter may have intended to spook Germany and the West.

Russian naval officers discussed nuking Berlin and two German military bases during a training exercise last year in a possible attempt to scare Germany and erode support for Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported.

Citing several German security service sources, Der Spiegel claimed that Russian officers had mentioned three potential targets for nuclear strikes, including the German capital, Berlin, which has a population of 3.6 million.

Der Spiegel said the other targets mentioned were the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany, which serves as a headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe, and the Buchel Air Base, which is believed to be home to about 20 US nuclear warheads.

According to The Times of London, the messages were intercepted while Russian warships were conducting maneuvers in the Baltic at the end of last year — months before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

The Times noted that while it may not indicate that Russia had concrete plans to nuke German soil, adding that this sort of chatter isn't unusual in military exercises, it might have been intended to panic Germany and the West.

Reuters reported that deeply-held fears of a nuclear war in Germany, felt strongly during the Cold War, have begun to re-emerge. The news agency said that demand for private bunkers has soared.

Towns near US military bases, such as Ramstein, are particularly nervous, Reuters said. Klaus Weichel, the mayor of Kaiserslautern, which neighbors Ramstein, told the news agency: "It is only understandable that fears are making a comeback."

He added that Russia's nuclear rhetoric has the purpose of stirring up fears in a bid to prevent Western nations from backing Ukraine.