The Russian armed forces should be able to repel the aggression of any adversary, including the NATO bloc, but a nuclear conflict is unacceptable, General Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, believes.
The day before, Sobolev said that Russia was unlikely to oppose Poland, since the country is part of NATO and this would lead to military operations against the entire alliance. “I believe that no one will agree to this, since in fact it will mean the beginning of a third world war, a nuclear clash,” the general explained.
He was criticized by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who considered this a readiness “in his thoughts to lose the war in advance.” He suggested that the deputy “surrender to the Poles in advance”, and not conduct “pro-European conversations, undermining the authority of the Russian army and the entire state.”
“The Russian armed forces must be ready for any war with any geopolitical adversary, including the NATO bloc. They need to be restored to a level where they will be able to solve any problems, ”Sobolev explained his idea in an interview with RBC. He added that the Russian army must be ready to wage war “with the entire collective West” in the event of its aggression.
At the same time, the general emphasized that the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, since this would become “a global catastrophe not only for our enemies, but also for our country.”
Speaking about the need to “rebuild” the Russian armed forces, Sobolev explained that, in his opinion, the reforms that were carried out in 2008 did not prepare the army for the current conflict. “Those reforms that were carried out, they certainly went to the detriment of our armed forces, which we now see during a special military operation,” RBC’s interlocutor noted. He clarified that at that time a mobile and compact army was being created in Russia, capable of fighting armed militant groups, since it was believed that the country had no serious geopolitical opponents. “Now we are reaping these fruits,” the general added.
In his opinion, in addition to restoring the army itself, Russia also needs to restore the military-industrial complex, and for this, in turn, heavy machine tool building and the electronics industry.
Sobolev has previously said that it is necessary to increase the combat effectiveness of the Russian armed forces, including through the military training of young people and the formation of a reserve from them in case of a major conflict. In his opinion, all young people should have a military registration specialty. To do this, they will need to be trained for six months, the general specified.
