Ukraine PM Shmyhal warns of 'Third World War' if it loses against Russia

The Prime minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that there will be a “Third World War” if Ukraine loses its conflict with Russia, as he urged the US Congress to pass a long-stalled foreign aid bill.

He further told BBC, “We need this money yesterday, not tomorrow, not today,” while addressing the issue of US security 

 assistance.

“If we will not protect … Ukraine will fall,” he added. “So the global, the global system of security will be destroyed … and all the world will need to find … a new system of security.”

“Or, there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars, and in the end of the day, it could lead to the third world war,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it attacked a large air base in Russian-occupied Crimea, highlighting its ability to strike the Kremlin’s military installations far beyond the front lines despite growing ammunition shortages. 

The strike, which took place early on Wednesday, targeted an airfield in Dzhankoi in northern Crimea, close to the narrow strip of

land that connects the annexed peninsula with Ukraine-controlled territory. The attack damaged four S-400 air defense missile

launchers, three radars and other equipment, Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday, without elaborating on the number of jets and personnel hit.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence called it a “successful operation” in comments to Radio Liberty.

Russia reports downing 5 military balloons Russian air defences downed what authorities described as five Ukrainian balloons overnight, the defense ministry in Moscow said Thursday, as the sides kept up long-range strikes that have featured heavily in what has largely become a war of attrition.

Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials have provided details about the secretive balloons, which Moscow authorities and media have reported on the battlefield in recent weeks.