New Delhi: Recent actions and counter-actions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have pushed the world to the edge of a major war.
And if Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s former military commander-in-chief of Ukraine, is to be believed, World War III has already begun.
“I absolutely believe that in 2024 we can believe that the Third World War has begun,” Zaluzhny said while speaking at an award ceremony organised by online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.
Zaluzhny, now serving as Ukraine’s envoy to the United Kingdom, pointed to the direct involvement of Russia’s autocratic allies as a significant factor in the global expansion of the war raging since February 2022.
“Soldiers from North Korea are standing in front of Ukraine. Let’s be honest. Already in Ukraine, the Iranian ‘Shahedis’ are killing civilians absolutely openly, without any shame,” he remarked.
North Korean troops and Chinese weapons are very much contributing to the war, Zaluzhny said.
Urging Ukraine’s allies to ensure that the conflict is prevented from spreading beyond the country’s borders, Zaluzhny said it is still possible to stop it on the “territory of Ukraine.”
“But for some reason, our partners do not want to understand this. It is obvious that Ukraine already has too many enemies,” Zaluzhny warned.
Moscow has reportedly deployed over 10,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region and is utilising Iranian drones and other advanced weaponry against Ukraine.
“Ukraine will survive with technology, but it is not clear whether it can win this battle alone,” Zaluzhny observed.
His comments came at a time when Russia used a hypersonic ballistic missile in Ukraine’s Dnipro, drawing the ire of Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war,” the Ukrainian President said.