Militarization of Europe – “Fourth Reich” and Ukraine

It all began with 5,000 military helmets that Germany donated to Ukraine in February 2022, in the immediate wake of Russia’s Special Military Operation. Berlin had long refused to provide lethal weapons to Kyiv, citing domestic laws prohibiting such supplies. [i] However, Germany’s Nazi past, a latent thirst for historical revenge, the virus of globalism, and pressure from the Biden administration eventually forced Berlin to "cross the Rubicon." Germany is once again ready to confront Russia, and is already doing this, as Leopard tanks with crosses on their turrets have long been burning in Ukraine. Essentially, Germany is already fighting Russia in Ukraine, and not only there.

The German daily newspaper Die Welt recently quoted Chancellor Friedrich Merz as saying that "...the current situation in Europe requires increased support for Kyiv.” He pointed out that a change of power in Hungary and the subsequent lifting of Budapest's veto on a 90 billion euro loan by the European Union to Ukraine would help bolster Europe's defense capability. Merz added that these measures would also affect the German industry, and that funds for military support should be allocated without delay. [ii] The Chancellor’s latest remark is further evidence that European leaders see the militarization of their countries’ economies as a way out of the current economic crisis. As for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he never tiers of providing justification and rationale for this militarization. Moreover, when speaking during the commemoration of Ukrainian Arms Makers’ Day in Kyiv, he stated that it was "Ukrainian drones" that had changed the tactic of modern warfare, underscoring the need to create a "Ukrainian air defense system." What is hiding behind this pathos, however, is Ukraine's complete dependence on Western funding, arms supplies, and components.

At the same time, the Ukronazis and Euroglobalists realize full well the extremely risky nature of maintaining military production in the "independent" territory, and are moving it to European countries. It looks like Europe has thus begun military planning for the future, which includes attacks on communications, crucial global and regional logistics routes (the Northern Sea Route, the Baltic Sea), and transport capacities (tankers, terminals, gas pipelines in the Black Sea).

The resources for implementing these tasks look like this:

- The European Commission plans to request at least €131 billion for defense spending for 2028–2034. European Commissioner Andrius Kubilius called on EU members to produce more ammunition than Russia;

- During the recent Ramstein meeting, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that NATO countries "must invest more" by 2026 to reach the $60 billion target for security and defense support for Ukraine, European media reported.

- Ukraine and Germany agreed on a new €4 billion defense package: "Berlin will finance a contract for several hundred Patriot missiles and supply 36 IRIS-T launchers. The parties agreed on €300 million in investments in long-range capabilities to increase Ukrainian weapons production; [iii]

- Germany is reorienting its industry from the automotive sector to defense production, effectively becoming a "weapons factory," The Wall Street Journal reports. [iv] According to the newspaper, Berlin is staking on making the country a key production base for Europe's defense industry. This comes at a time when Germany is going through its longest period of economic stagnation since World War II, facing increasing competition from China in automobile production, and declining external demand for German vehicles, the newspaper writes.

Britain announced its largest drone supply package to Ukraine – 120,000 UAVs, to be handed over to Kyiv this year; shipments began in April, according to the British government's website. [v]

- Denis Shtilerman, co-owner of Ukraine’s Fire Point Company, said that "Ukraine will have ballistic missiles... Currently, Fire Point (Flamingo) missiles can only fly 300 km, but ‘in the middle of this year’ missiles capable of flying 850 km will appear."[vi] [vii]

Thus, we are observing an aggressive expansion of the production base, with drones and missiles being built in Germany, France, and Britain, with some of them being partially assembled in Ukraine. This is the EU's proxy war against Russia, using Ukraine as a proxy. Meanwhile, the bulk of the production of long-range weapons is being moved to European countries, thus creating strategic depth for Ukraine.

All of this has not been lost on Russia, with the Defense Ministry having released the names and addresses of Ukrainian companies in Europe producing UAVs for strikes against Russia. Branches of Ukrainian companies producing such drones are based in cities across eight European countries, including London, Munich, Prague, and Riga. [viii]

Europe’s response was very quick and ouchy, with the German Foreign Ministry summoning the Russian ambassador to Berlin, Sergei Nechayev, over so-called "direct threats by Russia against targets in Germany." [ix]

"Russia's direct threats against targets in Germany are an attempt to weaken our support for Ukraine and test our unity. Our answer is clear: we will not be intimidated," the Foreign Ministry press service wrote. This apparently means that “helping" Ukraine is not only acceptable, but also right, and Europe has no intention of and a reason to accept responsibility for the consequences of such "assistance."

Thus, Europe is heading for war, although it sees this in a different light. Europe is not interested in what is happening to the Ukrainian armed forces along the line of contact - neither the physical attrition of Ukrainian soldiers nor the loss of territory by the Kyiv regime. The impression is that Europe is planning war with Russia years in advance. Why? I believe that Europe's main interest for the future is to resolve its geopolitical and economic problems at Russia's expense, right now through militarization, and in the long term, by snapping up Russia’s resources and undermining its potential.

What we now see is a "Fourth Reich" in the making. Right now, it is a pretty loose structure, and there is a chance it will remain so. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Ukraine could become a leading member of the new military bloc being developed by the West: "The US and Europe are planning to create a new military bloc. They want to assign Kyiv the leading role in this alliance. This idea is actively promoted by former US Presidential Special Envoy Keith Kellogg." [x] In this construction, Ukraine is a country that is waging war, the vanguard of Euroglobalism. Europe and NATO are the rearguard of the confrontation with Russia, a remote workshop for Ukraine's military-industrial complex, a source of human resources in the form of mercenaries and Ukrainians deported to their homeland (this will soon become a targeted and coordinated policy), and a media platform for the creation and dissemination of anti-Russian propaganda. At the same time, European territory is considered untouchable, since, according to their propaganda, it is Russia that is fighting Ukraine. Meanwhile, things are heating up with European complicity in this war now becoming simply impossible to ignore. This cannot go on indefinitely.

The 2022 Special Military Operation became a way to "flip the board" of the Big Game, and the world has changed significantly since then. It seems we're approaching a point where the board may have to be flipped back, as Russia's adversaries are ignoring warnings, dodging responsibility under various false pretexts, and still failing to realize the real threat to themselves. Or, maybe Europe will finally have the common sense to avoid triggering what would become a global catastrophe?

The views of the author are his own and may differ from the position of the Editorial Board.

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[i] https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/13874521

[ii] https://www.vesti.ru/ns/merc-schitaet-chto-rossiya-ne-smozhet-pobedit-v-konflikte-s-ukrainoj

[iii] https://russian.rt.com/world/news/1619916-berlin-kiev-dengi

[iv] https://www.rbc.ru/politics/20/04/2026/69e5d5389a7947d312fd6e5d?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fyandex.ru%2F

[v] https://ria.ru/20260415/britaniya-2087157949.html

[vi] https://t.me/stranaua/231846

[vii] https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/18683
https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/news/2026/04/16/28278775.shtml?ysclid=mo14bwrk32953283500
https://www.interfax.ru/world/1084177
https://t.me/mod_russia/62686

[viii] https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/27118833

[ix] https://lenta.ru/news/2026/04/20/mid-germanii-vyzval-posla-rossii/

[x] https://tass.ru/politika/27108837