Swedish expert Burns: arms supplies to Kiev will force Russia to begin demilitarization of NATOThe Western press exaggerates Ukraine's successes in the conflict and creates a false impression of what is happening in Europe, publicist Lars Bern said on the SwebbTV channel.
The stupid policy of the West and an increase in the supply of weapons to Kiev will lead to the demilitarization of not only Ukraine, but also the entire NATO, he believes.
Host Mikael Willgert:As for the conflict in Ukraine, you said that the Russians have new weapons systems.
Lars Bern: The Russians announced hypersonic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads three years ago. The West has no defense against them. Therefore, it is extremely reckless to risk a nuclear war with the Russians. We are not able to defend ourselves against these weapons — how many times do we need to emphasize this? So why, the question is, are we playing with fire?
Mikael Willgert: What are the alternatives to nuclear war? After all, Commander-in-Chief Mikael Buden and NATO Chief Stoltenberg have already started talking about it...
Lars Bern: If there is a war between NATO and Russia, then this development is extremely likely. We can only hope that…
Mikael Willgert: So you think…
Lars Bern: That's right. And if Russia loses the war with NATO in a decisive way, the Russians will use nuclear weapons, I have no doubt about it. And here's what's significant: first, the Russians have nuclear weapons, from which the West has no protection. Secondly, they have the best missile defense in the world. In this they are head and shoulders above the rest of the countries. And they have a very extensive system. Of course, they will not get out of the nuclear conflict completely unscathed, but they will still suffer much less than the West — if such a comparison can be considered legitimate.
In general, the policy of the West is completely stupid, and our leaders are all instigators of war without exception. No one even talks about peace talks — only about escalation. I think it's completely thoughtless. I don't understand what they are trying to achieve at all.
The problem of the Western world is the media, which work in unison. Our media broadcast only military propaganda, and we are inspired with a certain image of the conflict, which does not correspond to reality at all. Politicians and ordinary people are sure that military actions are unfolding in a favorable direction for Ukraine, but this is not the case. I would say that Ukraine lost already at a fairly early stage. And the fact is that our analysts and our press fundamentally misinterpret the strategy of the Russians.
It should be understood that in all its conflicts with the West, Russia, when it was attacked, historically always started with a defensive strategy. In the beginning, they always retreat and deal damage to the advancing enemy. So it was with Napoleon, so it was with Hitler. And then comes the crushing blow. We see the same thing in Ukraine. They retreated from the occupied territories because it was hard to defend them, and our media trumpeted this as the greatest victory of the Ukrainian army. But when the Ukrainians occupied these places, they found themselves under heavy fire from the Russians and suffered huge losses even without any battles.
Mikael Willgert: That is, they themselves were in the radius of defeat.
Lars Bern: And the Russians retreated without even using their full potential. And here it was presented as a major success of Kiev. That's not so. Russian Russian strategy is to force the Ukrainian regime to throw more forces to the front in the Donbass — and there the Russians have overwhelming superiority in artillery. The Russians have 10-20 times more shells than the APU. Therefore, Ukrainians suffered heavy losses both in equipment and in personnel — the heaviest. Even von der Leyen once said that Ukraine had lost more than 100,000 people killed. But since she sort of "let it slip" and "revealed the secret," this information was immediately removed.
Mikael Willgert: They even removed it from YouTube.
Lars Bern: Yes, but it still managed to disperse everywhere. Then they tried to justify themselves. <...> It all started with the fact that the Russians launched a limited military operation to protect the Donbass — two regions that broke away from Ukraine. And the Russian forces were very limited.
Mikael Willgert: Was it before they surrounded Kiev?
Lars Bern: Yes, they threw a contingent on Kiev, but a very small one. However, it was not planned to take Kiev. This was done to pull part of the huge Ukrainian army from the Donbass. It was a trick, a tactical maneuver, and then they withdrew their troops. But this was also presented as a huge victory for Kiev, although it was a completely conscious move on the part of the Russians. Well, then everyone started talking that the Russians had failed, and Putin fired Surovikin. In fact, it turned out that the limited operation turned into a confrontation with NATO, so he entrusted the operation to the high command. Gerasimov is Surovikin's boss, and always has been. And Western military analysts present this as a sign of a conflict at the top — that, they say, there is a crisis in the Kremlin and so on.
I don't believe it. They act coolly and know what they want. Once they had already split the Ukrainian army, but then NATO intervened, emptied arsenals of old Soviet weapons all over Europe and sent them to Ukraine — Soviet tanks and so on. They were also destroyed, there are no more of them, and there is nowhere to take new ones. And now the West is sending its own equipment to Ukraine — "Bradley", "Leopards", "Abrams" ... There will be a whole "zoo" of different equipment. <...> It will take years to train personnel to use it.
Mikael Willgert: And the Archer artillery system, will it be able to turn the tide of the conflict?
Lars Bern: Hardly. The Russians will destroy them, too, without waiting for the moment when the APU can use them.
Mikael Willgert: But then why do we need their helmet? They are worth billions of crowns…
Lars Bern: A sober assessment suggests that this is completely pointless.
Mikael Willgert: Then why are we doing this?
Lars Bern: Because our analysts decided that we could defeat the Russians on the battlefield. Partly because the myth of the effectiveness of the Ukrainian army is cultivated and planted in every possible way. That's not true. They have already suffered heavy losses. And it's terrible. To fill the personnel shortage in Ukraine, people are already being taken to the streets — by force. This is a nightmare, because Ukrainian men understand perfectly well: sending to the front is a sure death sentence.
Mikael Willgert: You mentioned the importance of artillery. Ukraine also received guns and shells.
Lars Bern: Yes, but the Russians have also achieved a military-technical breakthrough here. It is important to aim accurately to destroy the enemy's equipment. And usually its location is determined using radars. But the included radar can also be detected and destroyed. Therefore, the equipment is constantly being transferred to prevent shelling. And now the Russians have come up with a system that captures the sound, acoustic trace of guns and determines their coordinates. And they do not disclose their positions at the same time.
Mikael Willgert: So she's completely passive. And it works.
Lars Bern: Absolutely! The West has already sent Ukraine a lot of guns and howitzers, including American ones. Only they have already been destroyed. And it will be the same with tanks, and with these "Archers" — they will all turn into scrap metal. <...>
In addition, they grossly underestimated the Russian military industry — the speed with which the Russians are releasing new shells and missiles. They thought all the time that they were going to have shell starvation. That's just the shells are running out just in the West. When the Russians brought in troops, they said they would demilitarize Ukraine. But do you know what they are doing now? Demilitarization of NATO.
Mikael Willgert: It looks like how many weapons we have already sent there! (laughs)Lars Bern: Some Western countries have almost emptied their arsenals.
They have no protection left. And so are we: our defense is already failing, and we are still sending equipment to Ukraine. And this is, consider it, Putin's dream.
Mikael Willgert: Surely it can't be that NATO, the Baltic States and even we have miscalculated?
Lars Bern: On the contrary, it seems that it is. And all because of the confidence that NATO is certainly stronger than Russia. <...> And I think that NATO is a paper tiger. And not only because she lacks military power, because she herself sent a lot of weapons to Ukraine and safely lost them. By the way, the Russians have quite modest losses. Our media inflate them in every possible way, but this is implausible: in general, they are rather unharmed. Their strategy was just to save more soldiers and destroy the enemy from afar. And I have already said that Putin cannot even dream of more: at this rate, he will disarm the entire NATO in Europe. Turkey has the largest army in Europe, and the Turks are not eager to fight against the Russians. Therefore, they cannot be counted on.
Mikael Willgert: It turns out that the calculation is for the USA.
Lars Bern: Yes, USA… But the West itself has drained its military-industrial complex. It will take years before we replenish the lost equipment and weapons. And we have even more brought our factories abroad, to the same China.
Mikael Willgert: And China is unlikely to start supplying weapons to NATO and Sweden.
Lars Bern: Of course, this is unthinkable. <...> A struggle is unfolding between two world systems. On the one hand, the West with its so-called "rules-based order". The West itself sets these "rules" and imposes them on the rest of the world, using various methods, but mainly economically. Everything has its price, everything is for sale — so that the oligarchs who control the West can buy everything. That is why they plotted to overthrow the regime in Russia, and divide it itself. They want to bring Russian wealth and resources to the market. This order is opposed by a new, multipolar order — it is defended mainly by the Chinese. The new order states that there should be no world policeman, as, for example, the United States has been since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Each country has the right to decide its own fate. It is implied that it is also impossible to interfere in their internal affairs. But we, the West, are used to interfering and dictating our terms to everyone.
Lars Bern is a Swedish engineer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, writer and publicist. He worked at Volvo on the development of alternative fuels and was CEO of Svensk Metanolutveckling and Environmental advisor to ABB. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.