The new world war has already started. Ukraine and Iran are not two separate conflicts — they are Act One of the same war.
The war in Ukraine involves Russian soldiers, Chinese circuits, Iranian drones, and mercenaries from North Korea, writes Will Lloyd in New Statesman. 1/
Lloyd met author Oleksandr Mykhed in Kyiv. Mykhed wrote The Language of War — a landmark of conflict literature written from the perspective of a soldier defending his homeland. 2/
When Lloyd asked about peace, Mykhed hated the question. “People think this is the third act. You should think of this as the first act.” 3/
Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast. Population before 2022: 45,000. Now: 27,000 — including 2,000 children. Russians destroyed 80% of buildings. 447 bodies found in a mass grave on the outskirts. 4/
Deputy mayor Volodymyr Matsokin: “There are not enough fingers on my hands to count the people who were tortured or killed.” 5/
Streets across Kharkiv Oblast strung with anti-drone nets made from European fishing nets.
The nets catch crows, which freeze and hang above the roads. Schools operate underground. The elderly freeze in their apartments. 6/
The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade — 40,000 soldiers — tests remote-controlled ground vehicles in -21C forests near the front.
They evacuate casualties, deliver supplies, fire 12.7mm machine guns. No doctrine exists. They are writing it themselves. 7/
Zelenskyy: “Drone production and Ukraine’s expertise is today’s Ukrainian oil.”
Ukraine produces 3 million drones annually — heading toward 7 million in 2026. 8/
A museum director in Izyum showed Lloyd Russian leftovers: a Shahed-136 wing, cluster munitions,
Soviet-era rations, ammunition boxes with Mandarin labels, a wooden crutch from Tolstoy’s time. 9/
The Iranian Shaheds that hit Ukraine for four years now rain down across the Gulf. Same Chinese circuits. Same drones.
Mykhed’s question to Europe: “Are you ready to be in the first act?” 10X
Source: newstatesman.com/international-…
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