Germany is actively preparing for a potential Russian military attack that could occur within the next two to three years, according to a stark warning from one of the nation's highest-ranking generals. Lieutenant General Gerald Funke, who leads the German armed forces support command, has expressed grave concerns about the escalating threat posed by Russia's hybrid warfare tactics.
Hybrid Warfare Poses Significant Threat
In an interview with The Times, General Funke emphasised that Russian hybrid warfare represents his primary concern, alongside the potential for significant casualties. He revealed that military planners must now consider the possibility of dealing with up to a thousand injured personnel per day in the event of a conflict, a stark contrast to more manageable casualty numbers experienced in past operations such as Afghanistan.
'The closer you look at it, the more complex it becomes and the harder it is to imagine,' General Funke stated, highlighting the challenging nature of contemporary threat assessment. He specifically pointed to covert operations as a major worry, mentioning sabotage activities, sleeper cells, and targeted attacks as elements of Russia's hybrid approach.
NATO Allies Urged to Increase Defence Readiness
This warning from German military leadership represents the latest in a series of alerts from top defence officials across Europe regarding the mounting threat from Russia. In December, NATO chief Mark Rutte addressed allies in Berlin, urging them to significantly enhance their defence efforts to prevent a large-scale war.
Rutte cautioned that too many NATO member countries, including Britain, fail to appreciate the urgency of the Russian threat in Europe. He called for rapid increases in defence spending and military production capabilities to avoid a conflict on the scale experienced by previous generations.
'We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent,' Rutte warned during his Berlin speech, echoing the concerns raised by German military officials about insufficient preparedness among Western nations.
Expert Warns of Ongoing 'Hidden War' with Russia
Adding to these concerns, Russia expert Keir Giles from the international affairs thinktank Chatham House has warned that the United Kingdom has actually been in conflict with Russia for years, though government authorities have been reluctant to acknowledge this reality publicly.
Giles explained that terms like 'hybrid war,' 'subthreshold war,' or 'hidden war' have become convenient labels that allow governments to maintain the fiction that Russia is not actively waging war against Western nations. 'Because if you simply call it war, that means you have to do something about it,' he noted, suggesting that official recognition would necessitate more decisive action.
Evidence of Covert Russian Operations
The expert pointed to substantial evidence of what he describes as a 'subsurface conflict' that has been ongoing for more than a decade, largely unnoticed by the general public in the UK. Between August 2023 and March 2024 alone, approximately 46,000 flights in strategic areas including the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and eastern Mediterranean experienced interference issues believed to originate from Russian sources.
These incidents, along with other covert operations, form part of a pattern of Russian aggression that defence officials across Europe are now urgently addressing. The combination of overt military threats and covert hybrid tactics presents a complex challenge for NATO allies as they work to strengthen their defensive capabilities against potential Russian aggression.
