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Document No. 95: Memorandum of Conversation with Marshals Ustinov and Kulikov concerning a Soviet War Game, June 14, 1982 ——————————————————————————————————————————— This Soviet war game, described to East German Defense Minister Heinz Hoffmann by Soviet marshals Dmitrii Ustinov and Viktor Kulikov, envisioned several air and sea landings—on the Danish islands, in the Lower Saxony area of West Germany, and in France. Interestingly, one of the Soviet assumptions in this exercise, which took place immediately after the Polish crisis, was that Poland and Romania would want to leave the Warsaw Pact. The Russians pointed out that Romania had recently refused permission to Warsaw Pact troops to cross its territory in order to take part in an exercise in Bulgaria. Ustinov remarks that Ceaușescu either does not understand the current situation “or he may be out of his mind.” Exercise planners also presumed that China had started a war against the Soviet Union. ____________________ […] On instruction of the general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR, Comrade Leonid Brezhnev, an operational–strategic war game involving the leading organs of the Soviet Army and Navy under direction of Comrade Minister Ustinov is taking place between June 10 and June 20, 1982. […] The operational–strategic war game has been based on a most complex military –political and military–strategic situation. In detail, there have been the following new aspects: 1. War was initiated in the Far East by China forty days ago, with the active support of Japan and Korea, reunified on a capitalist basis. So far, the U.S. is not yet participating in the war in the Far East. A total of 290 divisions have been deployed in that area against the Soviet Union. The adversary managed to intrude onto the territory of the Soviet Union and of the People’s Republic of Mongolia. Vladivostok has been taken by Chinese troops. Incursions were effected up to a depth of 500 kilometers in the direction of Ulaanbaatar . On the 40th day of war, the Soviet troops formed for a counteroffensive in the Far East. By unleashing war in the Far East, U.S. imperialism and NATO pursued the goal of averting the complete deployment of Soviet troops in the Western theater of war, and inducing the USSR to deploy troops in the Far East, so as to initiate a surprise attack in the European war theater as well. In the Arab region, Saudi Arabia and Iran joined the hostilities on the side of the adversary. Two additional fronts were formed against this grouping. 462 2. In the Western theater of war, the adversary has deployed his forces using stateof -the-art technology. A regiment of the 56th US missile brigade, equipped with 54 “Pershing-2” and 10 missile detachments with a total of 160 cruise missiles, has been deployed on the territory of Great Britain, the FRG, and Italy. The adversary’s air force consists of about 3,000 to 4,000 planes in the Western strategic direction. For reinforcement of NATO, forces from overseas have been deployed. Greece and Turkey have left NATO. 3. Marshal of the Soviet Union Kulikov is acting as supreme commander of the Unified Armed Forces in the Western theater of war; Army General [Anatolii I.] Gribkov as supreme commander in the Southwestern theater of war. In order to mislead the enemy, certain forces and means of the Soviet Army have been transferred from the European theater of war to the Far East. The 160,000 members of the Soviet and fraternal armies marked for discharge have not been discharged. The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany was made into a front. The National People’s Army of the GDR is operating as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, with two armies (11 divisions), one in the 1st, one in the 2nd echelon. The Unified Armed Forces deployed 108 divisions, including 40 tank divisions, in the Western theater of war. This grouping consists of: – 29,000 tanks – 25,000 artillery tubes – 3,500 aircraft, including 50 percent nuclear-capable The Soviet Army uses state-of-the-art technology such as aircraft of the type SU24 , MiG-28, and -29. All tank divisions are equipped with the modern T-72 tank. The Soviet Army lands an airborne division and amphibious forces on the Danish islands. In the Rhine region, the landing of an airborne division is planned in the Wesel area. It is...

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