Ukraine’s former military chief Valery Zaluzhny sounds rather pleased that the World War III has begun.
Zaluzhny who remains loyal to his boss despite having been sacked from the army, ostensibly because he is now his country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, was speaking at a function in London.
On the face of it, Zaluzhny should’ve sounded alarmed. A missile producing factory of Ukraine had just been destroyed in Dnipro. The Russians had not only fired the first Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) of history but even informed the Americans about the imminent attack half an hour in advance. Surely, the word must have gotten around not just among NATO nations but also in Kiev.
But there was no stopping this missile, called Oreshnik (Hazel) since there exists no air-defence or anti-missile system in the world which could thwart it. Later, to good effect, Vladimir Putin was to say in future too the enemies would be forewarned so that civilians could be evacuated in time, sure in the knowledge this unbeatable missile can’t be stopped. A more lethal conventional weapon the world is yet to see and what is more chilling it could easily be loaded with nuclear warheads.
I guess such a piece of art, what if grotesque, deserves a few more words. Oreshnik struck from a distance of 800km and it took it less than five minutes. The speed was 4-6km a second. The farthest distance in Europe is not beyond 20 minutes of its reach. It still is a medium-range ballistic missile, with a range of 5,000km, and it could carry different warheads of 50 tons each. In case the enemies are deluded that it is merely a collectors’ piece, Russia has over 200 of this matchless toy.
Yet we have Zaluzhny rather swooning over the prospect of a World War III. This is ominous. It implies that West and Ukraine would keep firing long-range missiles inside Russia of pre-2014 dimensions in the hope that The Bear is sufficiently poked for it to attack a NATO nation which would trigger a response from all of its 32 nations. That is World War III which Zaluzhny is dreaming of.
Zaluzhny’s wish is understandable. Ukraine is already ruined beyond redemption. A big chunk of it is with the Russians and the rest would be gobbled up by its own friends in the West as soon as the defeat is official. That rump of a land would then be offered loan to exist and reconstruct while all of its considerable assets would pass into the hands of private Western sharks.
So if Ukraine is gone, why not take the rest of the world with it too? Russia has already said it expects an imminent threat from the US military base in Poland, called Aegis Ashore. So said the Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova: “…the missile defense base in Poland has long been included among the priority targets for potential neutralisation…for it aligns with the longstanding and destructive practice of advancing NATO’s military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders.”
And it is for good reason. The Aegis Ashore base has an anti-ballistic missile system which could launch nuclear-fitted Tomahawk missiles with a range of about 1500km. Previously, a land-based version of it was banned under the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty which now stands null-and-void after the US unilaterally withdrew from it in 2019.
But since Poland is in NATO alliance, it would be a massive escalation, more so since such an attack by Russia would earn the acquiescence of Western citizenry for its war-mongering elites.
It’s more likely that the next response from Russia to such a provocation would be against Moldova, a country which has rapidly become a logistical hub to supply the Ukrainian armed forces. It’s in Eastern Europe and not yet with NATO.
Russia is also wary that the next provocation from the West could come in Belarus with which it has a security pact to come to each other’s defense in the event of an armed aggression. Moscow has made no secret that it would consider an aggression against Belarus as one against it only.
As an asymmetrical response, Russia could also hurt the United States on its 800 bases around the world.
As I wrote in my earlier pieces, the Biden administration is hell-bent on escalating the Ukraine conflict before incumbent president Donald Trump is seated in White House. An even bigger motive is to serve the military-industrial complex for win or lose, war has always been a profitable business to war-merchants in the United States. Trump is silent for he too believes Putin would escalate it to manageable levels.
All this sure is very spooky but at stake is Russia’s survival and West’s hegemony which for obvious reasons is existential to both. Our best hope is we all are not blown up before Trump assumes office.
