The former head of the British Army has warned we “can’t rule out World War Three” as Russia continues its bombardment of Ukraine.
General Sir Mike Jackson said the world was now in “unchartered territory” and that he is increasingly fearful nuclear weapons will be used on people once again.
When asked directly if he feared the Ukrainian conflict would lead to a global war, he said: “I can’t rule it out. I find that very hard to say.
"The situation is now very delicate in terms of east west and its future. Its uncharted territory.
"We haven't, thank God, seen nuclear weapons used since 1945. But I honestly can’t say with confidence we can survive another century without such use.”
Sir Mike went on to urge the Prime Minister to “play the long game” as he continues to try and support Ukraine.
He told GB News: “Strategically we have to continue on the road we have now set out to assist Ukraine, short of offering military presence in the air or the ground.
"I am content with that argument. We have to continue ostracising Vladimir Putin while remembering our dispute isn’t with the Russian people.
"They, in the long term, are in as much danger from Putin as the rest of the world. We must play it long.
"Old points of contention in the West, socially, politically, should now be overshadowed by the strategic importance of getting this right.”
His comments came on a weekend when the Russian forces appear to have upped the intensity of their attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Earlier today, Mariupol's city council reported that an art school in the city, where about 400 people were sheltering, was attacked.
A video has also begun circulating of the Russian military firing what appear to be thermobaric missiles from a launcher.
The Russian missiles explode at a much higher temperature than most, and their blasts last longer than conventional weapons.
The heat they produce can cause massive damage to internal organs and cause flash burns.
It emerged this morning that Russian ships in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea launched cruise missile strikes on Ukraine and fired hypersonic missiles from Crimean airspace today and yesterday.
One of the strikes destroyed a large fuel storage facility in the Nikolaev region in southern Ukraine, while another damaged a workshop used to repair damaged armoured vehicles.
Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles were also fired from airspace of Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia also hit a Ukrainian military preparation centre where foreign fighters joining Kyiv's forces were based.
Since the invasion began on February 24, western countries have been unwilling to send troops into Ukraine for fear of it leading to a larger conflict.
Putin has implied that Nato boots on the ground in Nato would lead him to launch a nuclear attack.
