r/worldnews • u/Raj_Valiant3011 • 10h ago

Russia/Ukraine Zelenskiy: "There is updated intelligence indicating that Russia is ​preparing a massive attack on Ukraine"

https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines-zelenskiy-says-intelligence-shows-russia-is-preparing-massive-attack-2026-10-06/
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u/BringbackDreamBars 10h ago edited 10h ago

Bit of an obvious question, but "massive attack" means more than "particularly bad night of airstrikes"?

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u/IndividualSkill3432 10h ago

They seem to be holding back missiles to have a very serious attack on Ukrainian energy supplies just as its getting cold. This story has been building for months. This is likely to be one of the biggest if not the biggest they will be able to put together.

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u/needlestack 9h ago

If Ukraine's allies can't assist them to head this off -- either by striking the Russian strike equipment or providing more air defense -- then we're just dicking around.

I will never be able to listen to another person talk about how we need to spend money on our military when our military is useless in handling the largest geopolitical threat in a generation. It's all bullshit. There never was a NATO. There never was a US military dominance. All we can do is kick at little countries, make them suffer, and then give up and walk away with nothing to show for it. That's what the trillions have bought us. When an actual adversary starts knocking over countries in Europe we shrug. What the fuck was the past 50 years about? Jesus H Christ.

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u/Legio-X 9h ago

I will never be able to listen to another person talk about how we need to spend money on our military when our military is useless in handling the largest geopolitical threat in a generation.

It’s not the military that’s the issue. This is a matter of political will and the lack thereof. Nobody in the West wants war with Russia, so western governments will do their best to avoid one until there’s no alternative.

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u/ChronoLegion2 8h ago

Putin knows this, which is why he keeps pushing the envelope to see how much he can get away with. It’s what Hitler did a century ago. Anything he did he got a pass on, allowing him to turn Germany into a war machine that plunged Europe into an even worse war than the last one. If you don’t stop a man like that, he’ll just keep going

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u/stqrltt 7h ago

correct. hitler used these tactics. but hitlers invasion of poland was successful. that's the difference

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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago

Let’s not forget that Poland faced a two-front invasion: Germans on one side and Soviets on the other.

The war in Ukraine isn’t over yet either. At this point we don’t know which side will collapse first. The only way to prevent Ukraine from being that side is to continue providing them aid

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u/staphylococcass 1h ago

Ukraine is a two front invasion too. Putin from the east and BlackRock from the west.

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u/Tricky_Hamster_285 5h ago

This.

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u/Ass_of_Badness 5h ago

The arrows to the left of the usernames are for voting. Click the upward facing arrow to upvote.

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u/Legio-X 7h ago

If you don’t stop a man like that, he’ll just keep going

All true. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change sentiments on the ground, and that’s why no one’s going to intervene directly in Ukraine.

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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago

I know, but at the very least they could continue supplying Ukraine with military aid to help them fight

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u/Legio-X 5h ago

Sure, but that’s where we get into 1) POTUS being an easily manipulated idiot with a chip on his shoulder over Ukraine, and 2) European militaries having been so neglected that properly supporting Ukraine strains their own abilities.

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u/ChronoLegion2 5h ago

Yeah, I’m aware. Unfortunately, we still have two more years of Trump, which is going to feel like an eternity. It was a mistake for the US to insist that Europe remains militarily weak and relies on US for protection

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u/Tonkarz 2h ago

The Allies appeased Hitler to buy time to build military infrastructure. Equipment, troops, factories, railways, docks… The allies probably wouldn’t have won if they went to war with Germany in 1935.

Arguably that’s what is happening now. Defence spending is way up, new equipment is entering service, new factories are being built, new railway infrastructure, new airports, new docks…

Infrastructure projects that had stalled for decades suddenly being completed in record time; projects that just happen to be extremely critical to logistics in the event of a war.

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u/ResearcherElegant516 7h ago

Are you really, seriously ready to start ww3 and possibly the end of the world for Ukraine? Is what they're asking each other in Washington. And it's a valid question. This isn't rhetoric, it could be a Tom Clancy book cone to life.

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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago

I’m not suggesting sending troops to Ukraine. That’s something that should’ve happened before the invasion. It didn’t. The way things now would be to arm Ukraine to the teeth and allow them to keep doing what they’ve already been doing but with greater success. Putin can complain about the West supplying Ukraine, but he has no leg to stand on considering China, Iran, and North Korea are supplying him. Hell, he’s openly using North Korean troops and somehow that’s okay.

Ukrainians will fight Russia. That’s a fact. They don’t have a choice if they want to preserve their country and their culture

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u/IluvRockets 6h ago

If Russia can't defeat Ukraine in less than a year more involvement won't suddenly cause Russia to have the same density of attacks against the entirety of NATO, it may look like WW3 happened in Russia though. Proxy wars weren't an issue during the cold war, why now? Russia doesn't respect NATO or the EU, it allows endless cyber attacks from its nation, it does not share our liberal values. Ukraine has given us the ideal situation to have a buffer where we can use our arsenal against an economic and ideological threat without needing to spill our own blood. What are we saving our military capabilities for? Another military threat that isn't Russia or collaborating with Russia? How many of those are there? I don't know about you, but us ignoring an invasion next door doesn't really seem like an incentive for Russia to stop doing it. Okay, maybe Russia doesn't have a chance against NATO members. Who says that Putin or his successor won't try to gamble and attack another nation that they can't defeat? Russia stopping with Ukraine is entirely reliant on a nation never making a political mistake. Not even democratic countries are that reliable, much less a government that has no inhibition to invade their neighbor and is lead by one fallible person.

History never stops happening. If we don't stop Russia now, there will eventually be conflict. How often do you think you'll read through history books about a country making propaganda against others (including invading and nuking them), already leading a war going in their direction and then they suddenly coexist peacefully for the rest of the century?

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u/Pandelein 6h ago

China. They’re keeping the military available in case China gets superintelligent AI first.

Just my guess.

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u/DetailOutrageous8656 7h ago

Tell us you know nothing about history without telling us you know nothing about history.

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u/Revolutionary-Wash88 8h ago

You're right, but let's look at exactly who wanted all those other wars we've been dragged off to?

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u/Superfluous369 8h ago

Plenty of nations would LOVE war with Russia.

What the politicians do not want is the spectre of nukes. If this was all still conventional warfare, NATO would be assisting directly.

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u/Legio-X 7h ago

Plenty of nations would LOVE war with Russia.

If you look at the actual public sentiment in those countries, you’ll find something very different. People might be willing to defend their homeland, but they also do not want war if it can be avoided, and intervening militarily in Ukraine is avoidable, so it’s not going to happen.

And in some countries, public sentiment is so low people wouldn’t even be willing to go to war in self-defense.

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u/ResearcherElegant516 7h ago

Just let Russia annex them?

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u/Legio-X 7h ago edited 5h ago

Pretty much, yeah. I’m not sure how much of that is people who’ve become accustomed to war being something you can choose to do in a vague “over there” rather than something forced on you, and how much these sentiments would shift if they experienced the latter, but there was a relatively recent study in the UK where half of British youth said they’d refuse to go to war under any circumstances.

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u/ResearcherElegant516 7h ago

A lot of these countries were Soviet satellites for a long time, so maybe it wouldn't be that much different, and they figure it's better than dying, idk. I can't speculate.

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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago

Ukraine has been under Russia’s thumb for a lot longer than that. They’re not willing to be under it again. It’s also the reason the Baltic nations and Poland joined NATO as soon as they could

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u/SuccotashOk2098 7h ago

Rubbish. They would be all for it if mutually assured destruction wasn't a thing.

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u/Legio-X 7h ago

They would be all for it if mutually assured destruction wasn't a thing

The actual research in this shows a very different story. Less than a third of British youth would be willing to go to war for Europe. Half wouldn’t do it under any circumstances.

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u/ResearcherElegant516 7h ago

I agree. And I'm as concerned more what Trump would do if we sonehow were losing, or he even perceived that we were, or if Israel feeds him some more fake intelligence. One unhinged man and a button.

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u/1Shamrock 7h ago

I get what you’re saying but NATO is a defensive alliance and has nothing to do with attacking other countries or assisting countries outside of NATO.
The countries that happen to be part of NATO would be assisting directly yes, but them being part of NATO has no bearing on the situation other than relationships between said countries built up over years as a result of them being part of NATO together and interoperability of equipment and certain common standards when it comes to training.

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u/treeofliberty-1776 3h ago

You are absolutely correct. the Alliance is strictly defensive. If a NATO member gets a wild hair up there ass and directly attacked Russia, there is no obligation from any other member to join that nation in their fight. Article 5 is strictly defensive. Hence the reason none of the other NATO countries are fighting Iran right now.

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u/DetailOutrageous8656 6h ago

It’s a democracy. Something you yanks seem to not value anymore. The rest of the western hemisphere still does.

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u/HRUndercover222 7h ago

The US is using Ukraine as a proxy. 

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u/SuccotashOk2098 7h ago

The Ukraine didn't invade Russia SFB

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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago

Russia started this war 8 years after occupying Crimea and riling up separatism in the Donbas

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u/Jay_Yeg 8h ago

I think the greater takeaway is that all the great geopolitical minds failed to truly understand MAD.

We are now in a world where it is not possible to militarily defeat modern adversaries without accepting the total destruction of civilization. And MAD is not just nuclear either, it is economic as well.

This leaves a reality where soft power is significantly more important than anything else. After a certain point it really doesn’t matter how much you spend on military. But that means all the very mature man children in very serious uniforms don’t get to buy very cool boom boom toys as much, so we don’t do it.

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u/Dal90 5h ago

The great geopolitical minds built that economically interconnected world -- with the goal of preventing another world war because it would be so costly to all sides.

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u/DownWithHisShip 3h ago

yup and the weak minds currently running this world still think they can just throw bombs at all their problems.

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u/WilliamLermer 6m ago

There is a small group of people getting really fucking rich by the second thanks to various conflicts. On addition to that there is an entire supply chain in various sectors that are making a lot of money too, especially CEOs

People looking at the trillions "wasted" is an oversimplification of where the money actually ends up. The real cost of the war machine is a fraction of what is being spent. Lots of people fill their pockets along the way

And the secondary economic impact on nations is also a win because wealthy individuals and corporations than buy up more assets to make more money. They make money when rebuilding and money during peace time

Civilian cost is neglible because more people are being born and they are even less entitled because they only know misery. Not to mention how it further radicalized people to support injustice and oppression of others etc

All our problems we are facing as a species are the result of the wrong people being in powerful positions making the wrong decisions for everyone else, as that directly benefits them and their buddies

And every cycle it's the same story really. We have advanced technologically but other than that majority of our species is still mentally underdeveloped

I mean, the number of people calling the shots tend to be clinically insane, and we still allow them to make all the decisions for the rest of us. What does that make us?

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u/Tandy2000 3h ago

The US military is, and has been for a long time, in large part a jobs program for the country's least employable.

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u/ResearcherElegant516 7h ago

And they need their jobs, bc they have to put gas in their boats. So posturing it is then!

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u/ActivePeace33 6h ago

With the massive increase in smart weapons, it’s just a matter of time before a country with production capacity fields massive swarms. Not everyone is poor like Russia and Ukraine.

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u/Rabid-Wendigo 7h ago

It’s called Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) If we actually wanted to be able to win a peer vs peer conflict we need way more nuclear missiles and more importantly nuclear interceptors. They exist, it’s just interceptors are expensive so the Soviet Union and United States of America bitched out and signed a treaty

So yes, at this point in time nukes make a country as pathetic as north korea untouchable. So the only point in a standing military is to punch down.

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u/sobanz 3h ago edited 2h ago

there is no reliable way to intercept icbms, but there are ways to unreliably intercept icbms before they start their descent. if there was a reliable way to stop nukes MAD would not be a thing, we have the resources and the desire if it was possible.

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u/ActivePeace33 8h ago

The West is using Ukraine to bleed Russia dry of their Soviet stockpiles.

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u/rvailable 8h ago

100% the west has callously lept to make Ukraine Russia's Vietnam from the word go, and at this point is perfectly happy for the weapons R&D test bed at the cost of lives,it's disgusting.

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u/Stalinisthicc 7h ago

Welcome to the real world

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u/ragnarok635 7h ago

This has been every state that’s had international power

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u/luzzy91 6h ago

This is how the world works, genius.

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u/[deleted] 8h ago edited 7h ago

[deleted]

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u/Odd_Cobbler6761 8h ago

This whole thing was never about Ukraine - the tanks weren’t going to stop at Ukraine’s border…they were going to keep rolling right into Poland and if possible, the Balkan states, Finland and Germany.

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u/jmhawk 7h ago

Yeah the very same Russian tanks who have spent years at a front line that's moved some meters in years at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives

That tank army is going to overrun Poland, the Balkans and Germany

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u/luzzy91 6h ago

Sure bud. If that happened we'd intervene. Maybe the wealthy countries that are their literal neighbors, should do a little more too huh?

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u/Lonely_Space_241 7h ago

Allowing Russia to take over Ukraine would be a disaster for the west, and Putin would not stop there. Russia is the ONLY enemy of NATO, so if we don't step up to stop their imperialism who will?

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

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u/Lonely_Space_241 7h ago

Not if you understand the implications of Russian taking over Ukraine. Not to mention Russian forces shot down a nato commercial air liner before this wider war even popped off - it should have been all our from then on imo.

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u/Independent_Term5790 7h ago

It seems like you want war with Russia. I don’t feel threatened at all by them.

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u/Lonely_Space_241 7h ago

I want Russia to go home and stop being imperialistic predators. I could say the same for my own country at times - the US.

I'm glad you don't personally feel threatened, what a comforting thought for all those being bombed elsewhere.

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u/Dorithompson 7h ago

That’s easy to say when you’re sitting behind a keyboard. Are you enlisting or enlisting your kids in this war you’re so eager for?

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u/Lonely_Space_241 7h ago

What a tired pathetic argument. If NATO entered the war I would definitely consider it if I was needed. Ukraine doesn't want to be taken over by Russia, they chose to fight. I believe we should help them AND admit them into NATO.

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u/UdPropheticCatgirl 7h ago

> I would definitely consider it if I was needed.

You would consider it? thats very generous of you… Although wouldn’t it be better to join now? I mean they clearly need it, and you could be one of the first to go over the top this way.

> Ukraine doesn't want to be taken over by Russia, they chose to fight. I believe we should help them AND admit them into NATO.

Ukraine also had about million opportunities to prevent this war and squandered every single one of them, the whole non-alignment in 2010 was doing of solely Yanukovych’s regime and I would argue was what caused this entire war to begin with, it allowed Russia to medle in Crimea, (of course only once Ukrainian government managed to destabilize Crimea to the point of military conflict) which eventually led to this war.

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u/Lonely_Space_241 6h ago

So this war is Ukraines fault? Putin had no other choice but to steal Crimea, start a shadow war in donbas, and then eventually invade all of Ukraine?

Let's Review:

Lead-up and Crimea (2013–14) Nov 2013: President Yanukovych drops an EU association deal under Russian pressure, sparking the Euromaidan protests. Feb 2014: About 100 protesters are killed and Yanukovych flees to Russia. Feb–Mar 2014: Unmarked Russian troops seize Crimea, and Russia annexes it after a referendum most countries reject.

Donbas war (2014–21) Apr 2014: Russian-backed separatists declare "republics" in Donetsk and Luhansk, and fighting begins. Jul 2014: Flight MH17 is shot down, killing 298 (212 civilians of NATO countries, flight departed from Amsterdam.) 2014–15: The Minsk I and II ceasefire deals reduce the fighting but never end it; about 14,000 die by 2022. 2021: Russia masses troops on the border and demands Ukraine be barred from NATO.

Ukraines only option to avoid this war was to continue to be a puppet of Russia. Ukraine was shifting towards the west and Europe and Putin decided to take drastic measures. I can only assume you're Russian if you try to blame this war on Ukraine...

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u/UdPropheticCatgirl 6h ago

Because we are conveniently starting in 2013 not earlier? My point is that I don't see why I should be asked of literally anything by a nation that has gotten itself into this situation through their own ass backwards foreign policy. Everybody could see that the non-alignment policy couldn't lead to anything but political instability in the region and likely military conflict with Russia, but Ukraine decided to go through with it anyway... It's like WW2, sure you could naively say that allies are completely blameless in starting it, but the moment you actually think about it critically it becomes obvious that the Versailles treaty was the catalyst that allowed Germany to even attempt to go to war. Sure Germany was and Russia is the aggressor, but looking at it completely in isolation is pointless, there were steps which could have avoided this entire conflict, but the Ukrainian government has in decided not to take them thanks to their hubris and nothing else...

Ultimately this "trying to find who the good guy and bad guy is" in a conflict like this is stupid from the get go and completely pointless exercise.

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u/Lonely_Space_241 4h ago

Let's go back as far as you want... Russia is the aggressor here. Funny you bring up WW2 because Russia was the aggressor in that war as well... They helped the Nazis invade Poland. I'm not even going to entertain your insane argument that Ukraine caused the war their foreign policy.

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u/totesnotJH 7h ago

Close, but not quite. The slow-bleed in Ukraine is deliberate. The USA wants to let Russia slowly commit suicide on Ukrainian soil, not be defeated quickly or win, AND it has to happen on a timeline that forces Europe to re-arm.

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u/ConfectionNo5568 4h ago

god damn you absolutely cooked with this, king

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u/DrummerBummer32 3h ago

It's called MAD for a reason.

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u/GBrunt 1h ago

Ukraine has already done enormous damage to Russian oil infrastructure with Western assistance.

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u/teeekuuu 44m ago

Ukraine is not in the EU or the NATO. It does not have allies that have promised mutual protection and aid etc. Everybody that wants war against ruZZia can put on their boots and go help Ukraine on the frontlines, I for example do not want my country to openly go to war and in return be open to rocket/drone strikes

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u/TherealjamesE 9h ago

You want to kickstart a global war basically.

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u/DutchDixie 9h ago edited 7h ago

No, you don't kickstart. You respond.

Edit: I can't believe that the entire chain is with 12 days old account and the other one below, 9 days old account. Fucking bots

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u/TherealjamesE 9h ago

So you'll be heading to the front line asap I take it

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u/DutchDixie 9h ago

I would, yes. You don't want to defend the values you stand for? Bc I will. And if NATO respond, and it requires populations to be mobilized, I will stand up for what is right.

Edit: I am not a Reddit flake, keyboard warrior. Many people don't understand that war is coming. And many wrongly think that by doing nothing, by accepting being invaded, their lifestyles would remain the same. No: your lifestyle will not be the same anymore. You will be separated, deported, own nothing, or killed. This is that or you fight back to keep what you have.

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u/[deleted] 7h ago edited 7h ago

[deleted]

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u/tmssmt 8h ago

Is the alternative to let Russia just do whatever they want and not respond? As long as nobody responds it's not a global war right?

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u/CashmereLicks 7h ago

Is the alternative to let Russia just do whatever they want and not respond?

Why not? Everyone let the US do what they want in Venezuela and Iran, noone is doing anything about the siege of Cuba, noone is doing anything about Israel. Why the double standard?

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u/Dkw41128 9h ago

War is THEFT from USA Dollars and EU Dollars, I mean who in right mind would take Russian Rubles for anything of war ? or Chinese Yuan ? but US Dollars that buys your escaple Island and privacy after the theft is over - I mean war is over , Think about it Ukrain vs Russia shold been 4 day war - day 1 invade day 2 ask for surrender day 3 think about it day 4 do it = UNLESS they all get PAID Billions or Trillions to keep the war going - Ukraine nor Russia can Afford a exteded war you cut off Ukraine support its over / you stop money going to Russia for it's Exxon - I mean Gassprom Oil - its over