Ukraine must learn to provide itself with weapons in 2024 - former Aidar battalion commander

He said this on Espreso TV. 

"The world is headed for World War III. I am glad that the West is finally starting to get used to this idea, because it was obvious to us a year ago. Finally, voices have been raised in the West that estimate that the threat is significant enough, and the chance to avoid a major war is to prepare for it now. Because the Cold War did not escalate into a world war, because we were ready for it then. And the then axis of evil did not risk starting a major war," said the former platoon commander of the Aidar battalion.

Yevhen Dykyi added that the current axis of evil is getting bolder because the West has relaxed and has not prepared for war for 30 years. And now it needs to catch up.

"The arms race has already started. The entire Western defense industry has received more orders in a year than in the last 10 or 15 years. Production capacity is being increased, but the problem is that not everything can be solved with money alone. Besides money, time is also a factor. Some things are being restored very slowly. In particular, this concerns the production of conventional ammunition, the same artillery shells. Roughly speaking, today's stocks and production of shells are 300 times less than what is needed for this scale of warfare," commented Dykyi.

In his opinion, the West has only now come to its senses, because for the past 30 years it has been preparing only for colonial wars somewhere in the Third World.

"It is good that there is an understanding that a global war is either inevitable and we need to prepare for it, or it can still be avoided, so we need to start preparing now. But there is also a downside for us: if there is a global war tomorrow, the West should not waste its reserves, including in Ukraine. Therefore, it is crucial for us to increase our own production of everything we are capable of producing, as well as to learn how to produce new things. Most likely, we have 2024, when we will still have the current level of Western support. But no one can predict what will happen in 2025. That is, we have the next year to learn how to provide for ourselves," he summarized.

• On October 20, Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said that World War III began in 2008 and that the conflict in Israel will not end.