Germany plans expansion of air raid shelters amid growing Russian threats, official says

Germany is planning to quickly expand it network of air raid shelters and bunkers, in preparation for a potential Russian attack on the country, Ralph Tiesler, the head of the Germany's Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance said.

"For a long time, there was a widespread belief in Germany that war was not a scenario for which we needed to prepare. That has changed. We are concerned about the risk of a major war of aggression in Europe," Tiesler told the German Suddeutsche Zeitung news outlet on June 5.

Tiesler, the official in charge of civilian protection in Germany, said that only 580 of the country's 2,000 cold war-era bunkers were in working order. In its current condition, the shelters would house 480,000 people, a small fraction of the country's population that total 83 million people.

"We must quickly create space for 1 million people," Tiesler said. "Existing structures must be assessed and adapted without delay," warning that solely constructing new shelters would take too long.

The focus on revamping shelters comes amid ongoing fears that Russia may attack a NATO country within the next decade.

Germany's Defense Chief Carsten Breuer told BBC on June 1 that allies need to be prepared for an attack within the next four years.

"There's an intent and there's a build up of the stocks," Breuer said. "This is what the analysts are assessing - in 2029. So we have to be ready by 2029... If you ask me now, is this a guarantee that's not earlier than 2029? I would say no, it's not. So we must be able to fight tonight."

Breuer's comments were the latest in a series of increasingly dire warnings from Western leaders and defense officials about the threat emanating from Russia and Europe's current lack of preparedness.

Tiesler said that Germany would need to spend at least 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) to cover civil defense needs over the next four years, and 30 billion euros ($34 billion) over the next 10 years. Tiesler's office is expected to produce a detailed plan to the shelters' expansion, as well as addition civil defense needs this summer.

As concerns as to where Russia may launch an initial incursion into NATO territory mount, Russia has continued to restructure its military presence along its Baltic flank. Analysts and military experts believe that Russia may launch on initial attack on a country in the Baltic Sea region, given its strategic positioning and surroundings, including the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

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The annual report said Russia is using aggressive tactics, such as unauthorized airspace incursions and close encounters with NATO ships and aircraft.

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk