British General: Army must prepare to fight Russians on battlefield

General Patrick Sanders said in a message to British troops that the degree of the Russian threat “indicates that we entered a new era of uncertainty”. The British Army's top official took office last Monday, and on his fourth day at the office wrote: “There is now a fiery attempt to create an army capable of fighting alongside our allies and to defeat Russia in battle”.

General Sanders, 56, who led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, pledged that he would accelerate plans to modernise the military and move more often outside British territory to respond more quickly to the crisis.

The BBC quoted a source from the defence ministry as saying the tone of the message was not surprising. The source said that all armies are trained to fight, but with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the threat has clearly changed.