 Ukraine's massive ammo deficit, greatest danger to NATO security, Armageddon is considered inevitable. Two weeks of NATO drama have somewhat overshadowed Ukraine's deteriorating battlefield position as Western politicians and media focus on the ever-present danger of direct conflict between Moscow and its trans-Atlantic rivals according to Newsweek. Kiev's forces are struggling to hold the long front line in the south and east of the country against continued and at times frenzied assaults. Units are increasingly short of manpower and are still being denied the Western ammunition and advanced weapons Kiev says it vitally needs. Recent interventions and a significant intelligence leak from Western capitals, though, have focused on the prospect of NATO troops operating within Ukraine and prompted fresh threats of nuclear war from Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin allies. French President Emmanuel Macron first raised the proposal of deploying NATO troops to Ukraine in training and advisory roles. In his denouncement of the plan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed that French and British troops are already thought to be in country. This conclusion was then echoed in a recording intercepted and leaked by Russia of senior German military officials discussing Western support to Ukraine. The greatest acute danger is still from the front lines in Ukraine. One European diplomatic official who spoke to Newsweek on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly said when asked about the prospects of Russian escalation. The ammunition deficit is massive and Russian pressure intense, they added. The West is paralyzed by fear. So far all the red lines we've crossed have not brought the Armageddon we're so afraid of. A second European diplomatic official who also requested anonymity to speak candidly suggested to Newsweek that Moscow primarily wants to exploit alliance concerns to further deter Western aid to Kiev. I doubt you can change Russia's calculus just by sending trainers to Ukraine, they said. I'm sure the Russians are well aware of who's doing what in Ukraine the diplomatic official added. Ukraine needs ammo and air defense. That's where the immediate focus should be. The German government has delivered a civil defense risk analysis report to the Bundestag outlining one of the likely scenarios of a possible conflict between an unnamed aggressor and NATO based on lessons learned from Russia's full scale war against Ukraine. European pravda reported this. According to the report, Russia's war against Ukraine has confirmed that modern warfare combines classical and unconventional operations, the latter including cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and sabotage. An aggressor attack, hybrid and or using the full arsenal of modern armed forces in all dimensions on NATO territory is therefore a likely scenario. The report says the report's authors then outline one of the scenarios for such an attack emphasizing that it is only one of the possible scenarios and not specifying what the other scenarios envisage. This scenario divides the conflict into four phases. Phase one lasts for several years with varying degrees of intensity and involves hybrid influence by the aggressor, espionage, cyber attacks, sabotage and attacks on vital and defense facilities and critical infrastructure. A key feature of this phase is that the hybrid influence is conducted covertly and cannot be immediately linked to the aggressor. Phase two lasts several months and involves the deployment of aggressor forces on NATO's eastern borders and the deployment of NATO deterrence forces in response. The hybrid influence continues but becomes more intense and less covert. Phase three which lasts for at least one year involves open military aggression against NATO territory, selective attacks using conventional and non-conventional means including against targets in Germany as well as possible disruption of satellites in space. Finally during phase four the aggressor's troops break through NATO defense lines into Germany. A full-scale armed confrontation in space is also envisaged. The scenario assumes that this phase ends with a ceasefire agreement no earlier than a few months later. In the report the German government proposes that this scenario should be used as the basis for building a civil defense concept and that the relevant agencies can model further sub-scenarios for more effective defense. It was previously reported that the Bundeswehr is drawing up a new comprehensive operational defense plan for the first time since the end of the Cold War taking into account the lessons learned from Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Russia prepares for China's invasion. Military rehearses use of nuclear weapons. The Russian armed forces have reportedly rehearsed the early stage use of tactical nuclear weapons in a conflict scenario with a major global power according to leaked information from Russian military files outlining preparations for potential Chinese aggression. A threshold for the implementation of tactical nuclear weapons appears lower than ever publicly acknowledged by Russia. The cash comprises 29 classified Russian military files spanning from 2008 to 2014. Criteria for potential nuclear responses range from an adversary's invasion of Russian territory to more specific triggers such as the destruction of 20% of Russian strategic submarines armed with ballistic missiles. Despite the documents dating back a decade or more experts assert their relevance to contemporary Russian military doctrine. Training materials depict scenarios wherein the Russian Eastern Military District simulated various incursions by China. Such exercises offer rare insights into Russia's view of its nuclear arsenal as a cornerstone of defense policy and its readiness to deliver a first nuclear strike under certain combat conditions. One exercise outlining a hypothetical attack by China notes that Russia dubbed the Northern Federation for the purpose of the war game could respond with a tactical nuclear strike in order to stop the South from advancing with a second wave of invading forces. The order has been given by the Commander-in-Chief to use nuclear weapons. In the event the enemy deploys second echelon units and the South threatens to attack further in the direction of the main strike. The document says, In a separate training presentation for naval officers unrelated to China, broader criteria for a potential nuclear strike are outlined, including repelling an adversary's landing on Russian territory, targeting units responsible for guarding border areas, or countering an imminent enemy attack with conventional arms. The threshold is defined as a combination of factors where losses incurred by Russian forces would irrevocably lead to their failure to stop major enemy aggression, a scenario deemed critical situation for the state of security of Russia.