European Theater (World War 3)

The European Theater of World War 3, sometimes called the Russo-European War due to it being rather separate from the rest of the war war, was a proxy conflict of World War 3. It was fought between Russia and various nations in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

By the time the European Theater began, the Asian Theater between China and NATO was already in full swing, and there were already millions of casualties. Seeing that NATO forces were already mostly deployed in China, and that Russian presidential elections were postponed due to potential influencing by either side due to the ongoing conflict, the aging Russian president, Vladimir Putin, saw an opportunity to "reclaim Russias glory" and to cement himself as the nations greatest leader. After the war was justified by late 2024, and with Belarus agreeing to let Russian forces pass through the country, Russia declared war on various nations throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and immediately commenced the invasion of Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Baltic countries. NATO was caught by surprise of the sudden invasion and rushed to get forces into the newly-opened front lines, but NATO bases in Eastern Europe were quickly destroyed by Russian bombings in the opening days of the war. With little forces to spare due to the fight against China, NATO was unable to oppose Russia directly. However, Russia was still met with resistance from guerrilla forces in Eastern Europe, mainly consisting of armed civilians not wanting to fall into Russian hands. On the other hand, Russia was easily able to steamroll through the Middle East given the unstable situation in the area and their heavy military presence in the region beforehand. By the start of 2026, Russian forces had already captured Kuwait and Jordan. With their goals fulfilled, and with them not wanting to deal with constant resistance from their occupation of Eastern Europe, Russia agreed to a ceasefire and a peace treaty. The peace treaty outlined the creation of the creation of the Eurasian Security Alliance, the creation of various Russian satellite states, and the formation of the USSR 2.