An expert has predicted the terrifying way WW3 could pan out, and it’s not looking good

A retired NATO commander has forecasted in scary detail how WW3 could actually start, and it’s way more low-key (and realistic) than you’d expect.

In an interview for the Daily Mail, General Sir Richard Shirreff, who used to be NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has written out a minute-by-minute breakdown of how the West could be dragged into a global war in hours. This is how he thinks it would play out.

Credit: Unsplash/Daniel

So picture this: One night, Lithuania suddenly goes dark. No lights, no WiFi, no TikTok scroll before bed. Hospitals are scrambling on backup generators, banks shut down, and within hours, the capital city of Vilnius is in absolute chaos.

Sounds like the opening of a dystopian Netflix series, right?

He reckons it would start with a deliberate power cut in the Baltics, engineered by Russia. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would all be plunged into chaos. Looting breaks out, riots erupt, and the Lithuanian president has no choice but to bring in martial law.

The very next day? Putin makes his move. He’d order Russian troops in Kaliningrad (that’s the chunk of Russia awkwardly wedged between Poland and Lithuania) to go on high alert, pretending it’s all about “keeping the peace.” Spoiler: it wouldn’t be.

Credit: Unsplash/Kobu Agency

And it wouldn’t stop there. NATO would be forced to respond, Taiwan would get dragged in when China inevitably takes its shot, and suddenly the West is on the back foot in the kind of global conflict we all pray never happens.

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Experts are already pointing out the warning signs. Russia has been running weird military drills, quietly shifting troops, jamming GPS signals and even messing with undersea cables. Basically, they’re testing how much disruption they can cause without actually declaring war.

The scariest bit? If Russia managed to seize the “Suwalki Gap”, a 40-mile stretch of land linking Lithuania to Poland, NATO’s Baltic members (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) would be cut off from the rest of the alliance. Translation: Russia could swallow them up before NATO even has time to argue over Article 5.

Credit: Unsplash/Valery Tenevoy

The UK, as one of NATO’s biggest players, would get dragged in almost immediately. British troops are already deployed in Estonia as part of NATO’s deterrence force, so if Russia pushes into the Baltics, Brits would be on the frontline within hours. The government in London would be scrambling to send reinforcements, RAF jets would be rushed out of Scotland, and the Royal Navy would almost definitely be mobilised in the North Sea and Baltic.

And because the UK is basically America’s number one sidekick, it would be all-in on Washington’s response, meaning we’d be right at the heart of the action, not watching from the sidelines.

None of this is guaranteed, of course. But if Shirreff’s predictions are even half right, the next world war wouldn’t start with nukes flying, it’d start with a blackout and spiral out of control in hours.

Featured image credit: Unsplash/Vony Razom