British Citizens Should Be ‘Trained' to Fight in Potential War with Russia

A soldier listening as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs  David Cameron meets British forces in Kosovo (Reuters)
A soldier listening as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Cameron meets British forces in Kosovo (Reuters)
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British Citizens Should Be ‘Trained' to Fight in Potential War with Russia

A soldier listening as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs  David Cameron meets British forces in Kosovo (Reuters)
A soldier listening as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Cameron meets British forces in Kosovo (Reuters)

British citizens should be "trained and equipped" to fight in a potential war with Russia - as Moscow plans on "defeating our system and way of life", the head of the British Army has said, Sky News reported.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff (CGS), said increasing army numbers in preparation for a potential conflict would need to be a "whole-of-nation undertaking".

The comments, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, are being read as a warning that British men and women should be ready for a call-up to the armed forces if NATO goes to war with Vladimir Putin.

It comes after Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in a speech last week that we are "moving from a post-war to pre-war world" and the UK must ensure its "entire defense ecosystem is ready" to defend its homeland.

But Downing Street ruled out any move towards a conscription model, saying that army service would remain voluntary.

Sanders has been a vocal critic of cuts to troop numbers and military spending, according to Sky News.

In his speech at the International Armoured Vehicles conference in west London, he said the UK must urgently expand the size of the army to around 120,000 within three years - up from around 74,000 now.

But he said "this is not enough" and training and equipping a "citizen army" must follow.

He pointed to this happening across Europe, telling the audience: "Our friends in eastern and northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilization.

"As the chairman of the NATO military committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done...taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable but essential."

Sanders added: "We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare - and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.

"Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them."



Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli military is urging members of the Iranian security services to contact Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, claiming they had been receiving messages from officials worried about Iran’s “uncertain future.”

There was no immediate way to independently verify the claim.

In a post on the social platform X in Farsi, the Israeli military provided a website and urged users to employ a virtual private network before attempting contact.

“Even those who identify themselves as members of the regime’s security institutions express their fear, despair, and anger at what is happening in Iran and ask us to contact Israeli authorities - so that Iran does not suffer the same fate as Lebanon and Gaza,” the message added.

The message did not elaborate. However, it comes as Iran is in a frenzy over spies, prompting warnings to officials to abandon certain devices, apps and web services.

The internet was down in Iran late Wednesday afternoon. Authorities offered no immediate explanation.