The West risks WW3 unless it beats 'world of tyranny' in the race for new weapons, Ukraine warns as Britain tests laser beam capable of destroying targets at the speed of light

The West risks World War Three unless it thumps tyrannical forces successful nan title for caller weapons, nan erstwhile commandant of Ukraine's equipped forces has warned.

General Valery Zaluzhny, who this period became Kyiv's ambassador to nan UK, told a convention successful London that 'evil is present and it has travel to kill', pinch a conflict connected nan standard of nan First and Second World Wars possible.

'Time is nary longer connected our side,' he warned, adding that Britain and its friends request to 'wake up' and urgently prioritise processing caller subject technology.

Zaluzhny added that Western governments must hole their populations for nan anticipation of war, and that group should beryllium prepared to make sacrifices.

'Society must work together to temporarily springiness up a number of freedoms for nan liking of survival,' he said. 'Modern wars unluckily are full [wars].' 

His comments travel arsenic it was revealed yesterday that nan UK has test-fired a laser beam from an service conveyance for nan first time, a limb which is tin of destroying targets astatine nan velocity of ray from much than a kilometre away.

The limb has been hailed arsenic 'groundbreaking' by nan Ministry of Defence, and could service arsenic a acold much affordable measurement of zapping drones retired of nan entity than missiles aliases bullets.

Aerial defence is simply a immense interest for Ukraine arsenic it continues to conflict Russian aggressors, pinch President Volodymyr Zelensky many times emphasising nan request for further air-defence systems to comprehensively protect his country's airspace.

The accelerated improvement of drone warfare and physics countermeasures has had a melodramatic effect connected some Ukraine and Russia's occurrence successful nan war, which has been rumbling connected for much than 2 years.

Zaluzhny was commandant successful main of Ukraine's equipped forces erstwhile Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade successful 2022 earlier he was dismissed successful February.

His reside astatine nan Royal United Services Institute convention was his first since he took up a caller position arsenic Ukrainian ambassador to London this month.

The General said that only by combining Ukrainian warfare acquisition pinch Western resources and investigation could breakthroughs beryllium made.

He has antecedently predicted that only by winning a technological arms title could each broadside execute a breakthrough successful nan war.

Without accelerated development, he said, Ukraine risks losing nan war, pinch nan West connected nan precipice of a conflict connected nan standard nan First and Second World Wars, successful which tens of millions were killed.

'Is humanity fresh to calmly judge nan adjacent warfare successful position of nan standard of suffering? This clip nan Third World War? 

'Free and antiauthoritarian countries and their governments request to aftermath up and deliberation astir really to protect your citizens and their countries,' he said. 'We are fresh to stock each our knowledge.' 

He said that 'perhaps nan astir difficult and nan astir important constituent is nan society's readiness,' adding: 'If you want peace, hole for war.'

At nan aforesaid convention yesterday, Britain's caller defence caput John Healey made nan concerning admittance that problems pinch nan UK's equipped forces, impacted by decades of cuts, are 'much worse than we thought'.

He noted that 'these are really superior times' pinch 'rapidly progressively world threats', and that nan UK must beryllium 'fit to fight'.

He added that nan quality of subject conflict is changing much quickly than ever earlier and warned that 'Russia is acold from a spent force'.

Mr Healey told nan Land Warfare Conference that nan business successful Ukraine was providing lessons arsenic to what nan UK was facing.

He said that only a 'national unified response' to nan threat of Putin and different overseas aggressors would suffice.

Mr Healey told an assemblage of Army officers and invited guests: 'These are really superior times. I want to found a caller era for UK defence. We look quickly expanding world threats.

'And arsenic Ukraine has shown us, nan quality of onshore warfare is changing much quickly than ever.

'Russia is acold from a spent unit and if [Vladimir Putin] wins he will not stop. And this warfare is astatine a captious moment. So we are stepping up assistance and delivering much ammunition.'

Mr Healey said nan Government was committed to investing 2.5 per cent of GDP successful nan military, but he gave nary denotation erstwhile Labour would meet that commitment.