The Blubber

Ukraine's former military Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny has said that World War III has started.

Ukraine's former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny declared that the involvement of Russia's authoritarian allies in its war against Ukraine signals the onset of World War III.

"I believe that in 2024, we can definitively say the Third World War has begun," said Zaluzhny, now serving as Ukraine's envoy to the United Kingdom, during a speech at Ukrainska Pravda's UP100 award ceremony.

"Ukraine is no longer confronting just Russia. We are facing North Korean soldiers directly. Iranian 'Shaheds' are openly killing civilians without shame, and North Korean and Chinese weapons are being used against us," Zaluzhny asserted.

He urged Ukraine's international allies to recognize the severity of the situation.

"It is still possible to stop this war here, on Ukraine's territory. But for some reason, our partners fail to see this. Ukraine already faces an overwhelming number of adversaries. While Ukraine can endure with advanced technology, it is uncertain if it can win this battle alone," he stated.

Zaluzhny's remarks align with his consistently bleak perspective on the conflict. His earlier essay for The Economist likened the war's deadlock to the stalemates of World War I—a comparison that reportedly angered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy dismissed Zaluzhny in February amid growing tensions over the direction of Ukraine's military strategy and concerns about Zaluzhny's rising popularity, which positioned him as a potential political rival.

Zaluzhny had been widely credited with halting and repelling Russia's initial invasion, launched on February 24, 2022. However, his reputation was later overshadowed by the perceived failures of Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive. He was succeeded by General Oleksandr Syrskyi, considered closer to Zelenskyy.