Modern-day war in Britain could look a lot like World War Two with strict food rations and secret police, a world affairs expert believes.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and one of Vladimir Putin’s keenest allies, issued a strongly-worded statement today in which he condemned a recent decision by US President Joe Biden‘s administration allowing Ukraine to launch missiles into Russian territory.
Medvedev claimed the next global conflict has begun and declared “this is already WWIII”. Professor Anthony Glees, who is a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, told the Mirror we are now “fighting for our way of life” and will need to arm ourselves “as quickly as we can”.
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The world affairs expert previously detailed to the Mirror what World War Three would look like in modern-day Britain. He believes a future war in the West would “follow the pattern of the Ukraine war”, and would look like a conventional war, rather than a nuclear one.
Prof Glees said: “I believe the chances of an armed conflict between Russia and NATO in which we would be deeply embedded are now all too real. If the next war is a nuclear war, it will be up and running in hours and over in hours. There will be no winners, only losers.”
The prof believes Putin “will have become suicidal” and would “attack a number of key sites in the UK and continental Europe, almost certainly without warning and without an ultimatum”. He said: “There will be no time for anyone to do very much except prepare for deep impact extinction as best they can.
“However, if it is, as I believe, not going to be a nuclear war, then not only do things look very different – but it is entirely credible to argue it has already started.” Prof Glees predicts WW3 would progress in three stages, from Russian threats and subversion to a pro-Putin government in Westminster – if the Kremlin wins.
Stage 1: Threats and subversion
Prof Glees explained if Putin wins the Ukraine war – or has something he can say is a ‘win’ – he will begin to put pressure on all the post-1997 NATO members. He believes the Kremlin leader would first “attempt to soften us up” and try to divide the UK.
He said Putin is already trying to “subvert our democratic system and give political leverage to those who would support him”. “His skill set is of the Soviet intelligence community, and their aim has always been to make threats, to subvert and to hollow out their potential enemies,” he said. If his attempts to divide and conquer do not work, the prof believes Putin would move to stage two.
Stage 2: Putin attacks NATO
The prof outlined the second stage as a “war of attrition”, fought with conventional weapons and UK troops as part of NATO’s Armed Forces. “Slowly, Russian forces would advance to the Pyrenees,” Prof Glees said. He paints a picture of modern-day war in Britain, with fresh food sources quickly running out and petrol unavailable to the everyday Brit.
“We would run out of fresh food in days,” Prof Glees explained. “A massive Russian cyber attack on our critical national infrastructure would mean we can’t get cash out of our bank accounts, we cannot pay bills, we might not get electricity, gas, and – if Putin wanted – he could try to turn out the lights.”
The prof believes rationing of food and goods would “follow a WW2-inspired blueprint”. “Petrol and diesel would be virtually unobtainable for ordinary people. Medicines would quickly be subject to severe rationing and would soon disappear altogether,” he continued.
“Although we would hope the EU would continue to supply us with food, we would have to rely on the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, especially if much of Western Europe were to fall under Russian control. We would quickly see a black market for home-produced food and clothing.”
Prof Glees believes we would “all be subject to a curfew to stop looting and nights would be dark to save electricity”, and he predicts there would be conscription. “All adults between the ages of 18 and 40, male and single females would be eligible to be drafted”, he said.
Stage 3: A pro-Putin government
Prof Glees predicts that within a month of a conventional war, “a British Quisling government would be established, probably under a well-known domestic politician known to be sympathetic to Putin”. He said: “Within a year, the UK would become a Russian colony and run like Russia, with a secret police and forced labour camps for anyone showing the least opposition to the Russian regime”.
“Russian language would be taught in our schools, Russian or pro-Russian Quislings would run our public institutions. The Royal Family would go to Canada and resistance leaders would try to establish a following from secret bases in Wales and Scotland,” the prof added.