Europe prepares for war with Russia: bunkers, weapons and return of the draft

For over two years we have been witnessing a war in the heart of Europe, with Russia having decided to invade Ukraine and – at the moment – controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory including Crimea which was annexed de facto in 2014 It is a very tough war and so far it has caused something like 500,000 deaths and injuries on both sides.
A conflict that took us back a century, made up of trenches and months of bloody fighting to advance even just a few kilometers.
From the first moment the West sided with Ukraine, providing weapons and financial aid to Kiev as well as trying to hit Russia economically with a series of sanctions packages which, as recent data demonstrate, However, they hit Europe more than Moscow due to a sort of boomerang effect.
At the same time, there has been much talk about a direct clash between NATO and Russia which, inevitably, would generate a potentially nuclear third world war.
Since February 24, 2022, we have consequently been living with the sword of Damocles of an Armageddon dangling over the head of the Old Continent.
The apocalyptic specter of a nuclear war, however, this time too seems to have done its job of deterrence, but recently both the Elysée and the Pentagon have not ruled out sending their own troops to support Ukraine.
Without a turning point, Russia would in fact be on the verge of winning this war, with the tough Ukrainian troops soon collapsing on the eastern front, paving the way for Russian forces to Odessa or Kiev.
Hence the hypothesis of sending soldiers to prevent a Russian victory, with Europe now afraid of an escalation after having neglected its defensive apparatus for decades without taking into account the arsenals now almost empty thanks to aid packages for Ukraine.
read also Hypersonic missiles: NATO and Italy without defense.
Interview with the general Carlo Landi How Europe is preparing for a war with Russia The outbreak of war in Ukraine has generated an arms race around the world; Italy has also renewed its commitment to reaching the objective of 2% of GDP for military spending, but due to budget constraints the bar will be reached gradually.
In 2022, worldwide spending on weapons increased by 3.7% for a total of 2,240 billion dollars: in 2018 the spending was 1,739 billion dollars, with the figure likely to have increased further in 2023.
The arms race has been defined by historians as one of the causes of the First World War, due to what has been defined as the "security paradox": the enemy arms himself so I arm myself, thus unconsciously channeling himself towards a conflict.
To fight a war, however, in addition to weapons, you also need men.
The conflict in Ukraine is teaching us that, in addition to drones and other technological gadgets, it is always the infantry that plays a leading role.
Thus, Denmark is apparently thinking about compulsory military service for women too, Germany is ready for semi-compulsory military service while France is about to raise the age of reservists.
In Italy, however, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto would like 10,000 reservists ready for war, while his government colleague Matteo Salvini occasionally raises the idea of compulsory military service, above all to try to grab some votes among the more aged electorate.
Finally there are instructions for civilians.
In Poland, 30 million have been allocated for the construction of bunkers and the renovation of existing ones, complete with a brochure distributed to the population on what to do in the event of a war.
Something similar has also been achieved by us, with the Civil Protection which has developed a safety plan in the event of a nuclear attack, complete with stocks of iodine tablets.
In short, everything would suggest that Europe is preparing for a war with Russia, given that the last remaining taboo would be to initiate diplomatic action to negotiate a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin.