Scott Ritter claims Russia fooled NATO into building weapons depots and defense sites in western Ukraine by creating an illusion of safety—only to later destroy them in precision strikes.
During an interview on a YouTube channel, military analyst and former U. S. Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter stated that Russia successfully convinced NATO that the western regions of Ukraine were safe. As a result, he said, alliance members built weapons depots and defense facilities in those areas.
Ritter explained that Moscow allowed NATO to establish defense infrastructure and ammunition storage sites in western Ukraine, creating the impression that the region was secure. He argued that if Russia had acted more decisively earlier, these facilities would have been constructed on NATO territory, beyond the reach of Russian strikes.
According to the analyst, Moscow deliberately crafted the illusion that western Ukraine was a safe haven for military infrastructure — an illusion that NATO allies eagerly believed.
Ritter noted that Western nations invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the construction and equipping of these facilities. However, he said that last week the Russian Armed Forces struck and destroyed them, rendering those investments worthless. He added that the Russian military continues to target and eliminate similar sites across Ukraine.