A MILLION people have been killed or maimed by Russia’s bloodbath war in Ukraine.
Nato chief Mark Rutte said: “Every week, there are over 10,000 killed or wounded on all sides in Ukraine.
EPAMedical personnel attend to wounded soldiers near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on 4 December 2024[/caption]
ReutersResidential building heavily damaged during a Russian drone and missile strike in Lviv, Ukraine, on 4 September 2024[/caption]
RexA million people have been killed in Vladimir Putin’s terror war against Ukraine[/caption]
“Over 1 million casualties since February 2022.”
The figure suggests Ukraine has lost around 300,000 soldiers as Britain estimates Russia’s losses are 700,000.
Rutte announced the grim milestone as he warned the 32 national alliance was unprepared for war.
The straight-talking ex-Dutch Prime Minister said: “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.
“Danger is moving towards us at full speed. We must not look the other way.
“We must face it. What is happening in Ukraine could happen here too.”
He said the West faced more danger now than during the Cold War.
And he urged allies to ramp up defence spending to “a lot more than 2 per cent” of GDP – the current Nato target.
He added: “Regardless of the outcome of this war we will not be safe in the future unless we are prepared to deal with danger.”
Labour have pledged to increase defence spending but refuse to say when they will reach their target of 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Rutte said spending more was vital to “prevent the next big war” being fought on Nato soil.
He said Putin had cranked up Russian defence spending to 7 or 8 per cent of GDP – the highest level since the cold war.
And Russian actories are churning out “huge numbers of tanks, armoured vehicles, and ammunition”.
He warned: “This all points in one clear direction. Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation. With Ukraine and with us.”
MONEY TALKS
Since launching into a war with Ukraine, Russian defence spending has jumped to more than six per cent of GDP – more than triple what some Nato members spend.
Faced with a threat to its existence, Ukraine’s spending has skyrocketed to around 37 per cent – more than four times the second highest per cent spending.
Ukraine is not part of Nato, but Zelenksy is adamant that his country should join and has said he will not enter any peace deal without that criteria.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine timeline
VLADIMIR Putin waged a murderous invasion ok his neighbouring country in 2022, following years of heated Russo-Ukranian tensions.
24 February 2022: Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with an invasion of the eastern territory of Donbas. Explosions were also reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa
25 February 2022: Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and his team posted a video following rumours they had fled the country.
16 March 2022: Russia blitzed Mariupol’s Drama Theater where around 1,300 civilians were sheltering.
1 September 2022: Russian forces flee the eastern Kharkiv region following a strong Ukrainian counteroffensive.
21 September 2022: Putin announced a controversial partial mobilization to draft soldiers, the country’s first since World War Two.
12 November 2022: The city of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, was liberated after an eight-month occupation.
21 December 2022: Zelensky travels to Washington D.C. to meet President Joe Biden and address Congress.
25 January 2023: Germany approves sending tanks to Ukraine
20 February 2023: US President Joe Biden makes a surprise visit to Kyiv for the first time since the invasion began.
23 June 2023: Russian mercenaries stage a mutiny attempt with the paramilitary organization Wagner.
24 June 2023: The shortlived Wagner Group march to Moscow and the coup attempt ends.
27 August 2023: Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed dead in a plane crash.
8 February 2024: Zelensky replaces his top army leader Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
20 April 2024: US House of Representatives approves a huge foreign aid package for Ukraine.
6 August 2024: Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region.
19 November 2024: Ukraine fires several long-range US-supplied missiles into Russia for the first time.
21 November 2024: Putin’s forces fire new ballistic missiles into Ukraine for the first time.
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