Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/9202260

Vladimir Putin will spark a third world war if the Russian president is allowed to declare victory in Ukraine, according to the boss of the country’s biggest private employer.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, which ran the sprawling Azovstal steelworks that became the site of a relentless Russian assault at the start of the 2022 invasion, warned of the consequences of a Kremlin victory.

“I don’t believe that if Ukraine fails, Putin will stop,” he said in an interview ahead of the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. “The Baltic states, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia are the next targets.”

    • Nudding@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Fair enough. I just think that the country with military bases in almost every country, that’s been at war for all but ~20 years of its entire history, is actively aiding in a genocide, while also attacking targets in the middle east, is gonna be the country to start ww3. Call me crazy I guess.

      • WhiteHawk@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Who would they be fighting in that hypothetical war? Iran? It’s not really a world war if no great power is involved.

        • Nudding@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I dunno, I’ve heard people argue that we’re already in WW3, and that Putin started it years ago. I guess it all depends on what the history books of the future consider the smallest dominoes. Time will tell.

          • WhiteHawk@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            It’s still a proxy war for now (even if only one side is using a proxy), I wouldn’t call that a world war

            • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              So where Vietnam and Afghanistan. Both great powers got their teeth kicked in and withdrew because the wars where no longer politically expedient.

              I imagine this is a bit more existential for Putin, but it is also more costly by an order of magnitude.

            • Nudding@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Could lead to escalations, which would in hindsight be a clear path to world war. Interesting discussion to be had for sure.