The West risks World War III if it does not defeat tyrannical powers in the race for new weapons, the former commander of Ukraine’s armed forces has warned.
General Valery Zaluzhny, who became Kiev’s ambassador to the UK this month, told a conference in London that “evil is here and it has come to kill” and that a conflict on the scale of World Wars I and II is possible.
“Time is no longer on our side,” he warned, adding that Britain and its allies must “wake up” and urgently prioritise the development of new military technology.
Zaluzhny added that Western governments must prepare their populations for the possibility of war and that people must be prepared to make sacrifices.
“Society has to agree to temporarily give up some freedoms in order to survive,” he said. “Modern wars are unfortunately total (wars).”
He made his comments after it was announced yesterday that the United Kingdom had fired a laser beam from a military vehicle for the first time. The weapon can destroy targets at the speed of light from more than a kilometre away.
General Valery Zaluzhny, who became Kiev’s ambassador to the UK this month, told a conference in London that “evil is here and it has come to kill”
In this image, created from a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, a Russian tank fires at a Ukrainian position in an unknown location
The Defense Department calls the weapon “groundbreaking” and it could be a much cheaper way to shoot drones out of the sky than missiles or bullets.
Air defense is a major concern for Ukraine, as the country continues to face Russian aggressors. President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly stressed the need for additional air defense systems to fully protect his country’s airspace.
The rapid development of drone warfare and electronic countermeasures has had a dramatic impact on the success of both Ukraine and Russia in the war, which has lasted more than two years.
Zaluzhny was commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces when Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade in 2022, but he was dismissed in February.
His speech at the Royal United Services Institute conference was his first since taking up his new role as Ukrainian ambassador to London this month.
The general said breakthroughs were possible only if Ukrainian war experience was combined with Western resources and research.
He had previously predicted that both sides could only achieve a breakthrough in the war by winning a technological arms race.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi (pictured today), warned that Britain must prepare for “all-out war” against Russia and its allies
British troops in Foxhound vehicles arrive after crossing the Vistula River as part of NATO’s Dragon 24 military exercise in March
Without rapid development, he said, Ukraine risks losing the war and the West is on the brink of a conflict on the scale of World Wars I and II, in which tens of millions of people died.
‘Is humanity prepared to accept the next war calmly in terms of the scale of suffering? This time the Third World War?
“Free and democratic countries and their governments need to wake up and think about how to protect their citizens and their countries,” he said. “We are ready to share all our knowledge.”
He said that “the willingness of society is perhaps the most difficult and important part,” adding: “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Yesterday at the same conference, Britain’s new Defence Secretary John Healey made the worrying admission that the problems in the British armed forces, resulting from decades of cuts, are “far worse than we thought”.
He noted that “these are really serious times” with “rapidly increasing global threats”, and that the UK “must be ready to fight”.
He added that the nature of military conflicts is changing faster than ever before and warned that “Russia is far from exhausted.”
Mr Healey told the Land Warfare Conference that the situation in Ukraine provided lessons for the situation in the UK.
He said only a “national, united response” to the threat from Putin and other foreign aggressors would suffice.
In a speech in London, Defence Secretary John Healey told the Land Warfare Conference that the situation in Ukraine provided lessons about the situation facing the UK.
Ukrainian soldiers stand next to a tank in a rear position after an attack on Russian positions in the Donetsk region, Ukraine on July 20
Mr Healey told an audience of army officers and invited guests: ‘These are really serious times. I want to usher in a new era for British defence. We are facing rapidly increasing global threats.
‘And as Ukraine has shown us, the nature of land warfare is changing faster than ever.
“Russia is far from being an exhausted power, and if (Vladimir Putin) wins, he will not stop. And this war is at a critical moment. So we are increasing aid and providing more ammunition.”
Mr Healey said the government had committed to investing 2.5 per cent of GDP in the military, but he gave no indication of when Labour would meet that commitment.