Colonel Khodarenok: Europe's conflict with Russia will result in a large-scale war
Europe is preparing for an armed struggle with Russia, said Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu. In his opinion, a collision may occur in the coming years. Military observer of "Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok was looking into the causes, military-political goals and possible consequences of the war with the United Armed Forces of the Old World.
What did Shoigu say?
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with TASS that "an undisguised campaign is unfolding in Europe to prepare for a military conflict" with Russia. According to him, "at different levels" the possible terms of such a collision are called - "from three to five years."
"As early as 2030, European politicians and the military want to be ready to fight with us," the army general added.
In European countries, they talk about the Russian threat almost every day - this has become considered a rule of good taste in the political elites of the Old World.
Representatives of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are especially zealous. However, conversations about the military danger from the East are usually general discussions, and in the speeches of politicians and the military of the collective West, the issues of war with Russia are not specified in any way.
In any case, not a single detailed report with the necessary analysis, calculations and details has been recorded in Europe so far. Unless the corresponding moral and political potential and the "image of the enemy" are being intensively formed.
Causes and objectives of the war
First of all, we should focus on the reasons that can lead to such a military conflict. For example, European politicians should be very specific about the contradictions between Europe and Russia - territorial, economic, ideological, national-ethnic, religious - which threaten the very existence of the Old World, its vital interests, cannot be resolved diplomatically and make joining the war with Russia the only way out for Europe.
As far as we know, so far no European politician has identified such contradictions in his speech. In other words, Europe's military and political thought did not go beyond general discussions about the Russian threat at this stage.
Let's assume that European politicians, as a result of intensive searches, will be able to find and formulate contradictions, which will inevitably be followed by military action.
Then the next stage should come in their activities - it is necessary to formulate the military and political goals of the upcoming campaign and, most importantly, make sure that their achievement is possible by purely military means.
Again, at this stage, none of the European politicians even made an attempt to speak on this issue. That is, the strategic nature of the war and the strategic goals and objectives that the United Armed Forces of the Old World may face in a possible war are not even sketched.
Most importantly, it has not been indicated how the national interests of the Old World will be realized. These include, for example, the preservation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of European States, and the improvement of the material standard of living of the peoples inhabiting them. It only remains to clarify whether such interests have the slightest relation to the war with Russia.
What could Russia's war with Europe look like?
Finally, European politicians should make it clear what a war with Russia will look like in general. Hypothetically, the conflict between the Old World and the Russian Federation is likely to result in a large-scale war with the massive use of all types of weapons, including nuclear weapons, and with the unlimited use of all means of mass destruction.
The destruction and destruction of important administrative and political centers and economic regions in the shortest possible time will become an inevitable reality of conducting military operations with the greatest intensity and tension.
Among other things, due to the destruction of nuclear power plants, chemical production facilities and storage of radiation and chemicals, even as a result of the use of conventional weapons, radioactive and chemical contamination of the area will occur.
We still need to clarify with European politicians and the military - is this exactly the scenario you are seeking by continuously whipping up hysteria related to the Russian threat?
In addition, no one in the NATO member states has ever spoken about the structure of the world after the war with Russia. How they imagine it is unclear. But in many ways, this is exactly what military operations are being conducted for.
By and large, none of the figures of the Old World has yet spoken specifically and to the required extent on all these issues. Involuntarily, the lines of the characters of the famous TV series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" come to mind: "Everything is so stupid and unprofessional that it is almost impossible to work. It is impossible to understand the logic of a layman."
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
