American General: Russian Military In Belarus Will Be A Legitimate Target

• 15.04.2026, 14:29

NATO should consider such a scenario.

Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. forces in Europe and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in an exclusive interview with Charter97.org, described how NATO would respond to threats from Belarus:

- I would not assume that Russian forces in Belarus would not be immediately struck if a strike looked imminent or actually occurred. Certainly any Russian forces on Belarusian territory - including the infrastructure they use - would be legitimate targets.

-I quite accept that the alliance or even individual states would be willing to do so. You can't defend your territory by just standing on the border waiting for everyone to gather. HQs, logistics, etc are preferably hit. So it's not so much a retaliatory strike - it's just part of the defense: hitting any targets conducive to a Russian offensive. I fully expect that.