DEFENDING THE NATION

‘Our hollowed-out armed forces risk inviting aggression’

- By Conor Wilson and James Knuckey

Prince William recalled Lucy's 'warmth and compassion'

RUSSIA’S three-day war entered its fifth year last week, writes Conor Wilson. The Special Military Operation has cost Russia at least 1.25 million casualties, a figure Al Carns, the Minister for the Armed Forces, believes is an underestimate.

But four years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion, where does the West find itself? According to Carns, who briefed journalists this week, the UK is facing a 1938 moment and although the lead-up to the Second World War is not being replicated, he believes there are striking similarities.

He later told a news outlet that the UK would be at war with Russia within three years - a deeply sobering thought. If true, and it remains a big “if”, albeit one that is getting increasingly smaller, the time for talking rather than acting is over.