We Ukrainians are ready to fight. But war can still be averted if the west shows the Kremlin what Russia has to lose
- Andriy Zagorodnyuk is a former Ukrainian defence minister
The situation in and around Ukraine is extremely tense. We have 150,000 Russian troops scattered near our borders – from Belarus to Crimea and the Black Sea. There are tens of navy vessels and thousands of planes, tanks, artillery units and other equipment, ready to be engaged within hours. There is strong evidence that the Russian government is seriously considering engaging all of these capabilities against Ukraine. We believe all preliminary decisions have been made, so the decision rests now with the president.
If a campaign does start, it will mean a joint forces operation in all domains: land, air, navy, cyber, information and special operations. It will be a war on a scale unseen in Europe since the second world war.
