A general to Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a disturbing demand that World War 3 has ‘already begun’ amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

Talk of a third World War is never far away from the headlines amid the Russia–Ukraine war and rising tensions between Israel and Iran.

Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military facilities last week (June 13) has resulted in the nation firing back at the country.

Both Israel and Iran have been trading strikes over the weekend, with three civilians being killed in an Iranian missile strike on Tel Aviv.

Tensions continue to rise in the US (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Iran have even warned that intervention from the West will lead to strikes on its own bases, while Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz adding further warnings, stating: “If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn.”

Add that to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the world is certainly a scary place right now.

Well, Apti Alaudinov, one of Putin’s generals, has added fuel to the fire after calling for the Russian leader to mobilize troops and remind the world of the country’s vast nuclear arsenal.

Taking to Telegram, Alaudinov wrote, “We need to declare mobilisation.”

Suggesting that Russia could deploy up to one million troops, the Russian chief added: “We need to prepare at least half a million people in advance. But realistically one million people. We need to call them up and start preparing them for the fact that the war has already begun, which we already know is happening – World War 3. But it has already taken on a new turn and a new momentum.

“And so that no one dares to play with us the way they played with all the other countries, and now with Iran. Believe me, we all need to unite, unite, unite at all levels.”

Putin general Apti Alaudinov (SERGEI BOBYLYOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s attack come as tensions have escalated over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the strikes were ‘a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival’.

Donald Trump has even weighed in on the tensions forming in the Middle East with the president writing on Truth Social: “Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!

“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!”

Two military experts have explained why they believe World War 3 has already begun despite the lack of tell-tale signs evident in previous global conflicts.

Characteristics of the first two world wars included the likes of conscriptions, widespread invasions, air raid sirens and evacuations, and while some of these are evident once again in the ongoing war in Ukraine, they’re not features that are happening across the globe.

But just because we’re not concealing ourselves in blackouts or seeing tanks on the streets doesn’t necessarily mean global conflict isn’t ongoing, according to national security expert Mark Toth and former US intelligence officer Col. Jonathan Sweet.

War is typically associated with weapons and explosives (Getty Stock Photo)

In an interview with the Mail Online, the two experts pointed to evidence that may suggest a third world war is underway – one that doesn’t involve ‘mushroom clouds or apocalyptic wastelands’, but instead is a ‘war by a thousand cuts, conducted across multi-regional and multi-domain battlefields’.

Alongside the standard weapons and explosives often associated with wars, such as the type being used in Ukraine, Toth and Sweet claimed conflict today is also fought through the likes of cyberattacks, disinformation, sabotage and economic manipulation.

The experts referenced Russia and its president Vladimir Putin as examples for this kind of approach, pointing not only to the invasion of Ukraine, but to espionage in Europe, coups in Africa, and a spread of misinformation across the globe.

Sweet and Toth described these methods as ‘grey zone’ warfare, saying: “Putin’s ability to conduct hybrid warfare is arguably his greatest strength.”

They continued: “To fully understand the scope of Russia’s vast disinformation campaign, just look at the US, UK, and Africa. Russian troll and bot farms use memes and fake fact-check accounts to demonise the West and distract from Russian paramilitaries overthrowing democracies.

“Russian troll and bot farms have infiltrated online spaces with cartoons, memes, and fake fact-check accounts to disseminate discord and erode confidence in Western governments.”

Experts pointed to Vladimir Putin’s approach to conflict (Contributor/Getty Images)

Concerns about a battle for power have also been raised by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, of the British Royal Air Force, who spoke in a Q&A at the Freeman Air and Space Institute earlier this month.

“We are witnessing a return to great power competition,” Knighton said at the event.

“With the rapid advancement of technology and the economic, technical, and warfighting capabilities of other major powers, we no longer have total air supremacy,” he continued.

However, while Toth and Sweet are firm in their belief that the ongoing conflict is ‘already a world war’, other experts aren’t quite so convinced.

Adeline Van Houtte, Senior Europe Analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told the Mail that while the risk of escalation has grown, World War 3 is not actually underway.

She said: “The revised nuclear use threshold and the Oreshnik [missile] are most likely intended to send a message to the West, but a nuclear escalation remains highly unlikely.”

Donald Trump has threatened to take action against Russia as he urged the country to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine ‘before it is too late’.

Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to share his warning after his tense meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28, when Trump insisted Zelenskyy was ‘gambling with World War three’.

Trump’s comments came shortly after the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and just days later the POTUS decided to halt all US aid to Ukraine.

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if the decision for the US to pause military aid was ‘true’, then it could ‘really encourage the Kyiv regime to (come to) the peace process’.

Trump then announced in his speech to Congress that he had indication from Putin that Russia is ready for peace, saying: “[We] have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?

“It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt the killing. It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides.”

It’s only been three days since Trump claimed that Russia was ‘ready for peace’, but the president has now issued a warning against the country if it fails to act.

Donald Trump threatened tariffs against Russia if it doesn’t reach a peace deal with Ukraine (MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

In his Truth Social post, Trump once again wielded the threat of tariffs – something he’s been talking about a lot lately after taking action against Mexico, Canada and China.

Trump has used tariffs, among other threats, to urge Russia to reach a deal with Ukraine.

He wrote: “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.

“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!”

Trump has urged Ukraine and Russia to come to a deal (Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump)

Ukraine has made clear it is ready to ‘work fast to end the war’, with Zelenskyy suggesting ideas for the ‘first stages’ of peace in a post on Twitter after his meeting with Trump.

In the post, he wrote: “[The] first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky – ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure – and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.”

“Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy added. “My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

A psychic has insisted that some of their predictions for this year have so far come true.

Well-known Bulgarian mystic and healer Baba Vanga is famous for her accurate predictions, with some of her prophecies about 2024 having come into fruition.

Some of these include an economic crisis and new treatments becoming available.

And, like Baba Vanga, Brazilian psychic Athos Salomé says his predictions for 2024 have also come true.

Athos forecast that seven different things were likely to happy this year – four of which he says have since happened…

World War 3

According to the Brazilian native, this year would be the year World War 3 would commence.

Last year, Athos said that WW3 would be an ‘urgent reality’, which he now says has been proven to be true because the situation is getting more and more ‘volatile’ between China and the US in particular.

“This was prophetic and in 2024 it became so real when the prediction was made,” Athos said to Daily Star. “This regional tension is a reflection of my words and brings out the point that territorial issues are a reason for big world wars.”

He failed to note that his previous predictions were more specifically about China and Russia, however, and would be as a result of a cyberattack.

Natural disasters

Athos also predicted that we could be set for another year filled with natural disasters and, in light of Typhoon Yagi in Asia, he says he was right once more as he forecast that countries like Philippines, Vietnam and some regions of China would be hit the hardest.

Typhoon Yagi has caused severe flooding in Vietnam (NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)

“In September of 2024 real events supported these expectations with typhoon Yagi, which affected and brought a large amount of damages to these parts of the world,” Athos recently said.

“The typhoon had winds in excess of 93mph causing devastating floods and landslides with casualties and major destruction of structures. I said that more and worse cases of the event would occur, and going by the observed natural disasters this year, I was right.”

Asteroid space race

Athos previously said that an asteroid ‘abundant in rich materials’ would spark a new space race involving the US, Russia and China.

The countries in question would rush to access the resourceful asteroid, enhancing the tension that was already there between them.

He now believes that this prediction is linked to a small asteroid that NASA announced had disintegrated over the coast of the Philippines earlier this month.

Athos Salomé has been hailed as a ‘living Nostradamus’ (Instagram/@athos_salome) (

“Although the event didn’t pose a threat, the growing attention to space objects reflects my prediction of a new era of space exploration and competition,” he said.

“This race to discover cosmic secrets could easily turn into an arena of geopolitical rivalry, as I predicted.”

New era of technology

Following the release of Apple’s highly anticipated VisionPro headset, Athos is adamant that his forecast about the new tech allowing people to eventually access ‘different dimensions in addition to augmented and virtual reality applications’ has now come true following the release of Hauntify.

The Meta-created game allows users to turn their homes into a haunted house.

“This is not just a prediction but Is happening with the release of Hauntify, a mixed-reality app that appeals to a user’s fear sensors to create a paranormal experience,” says Athos.

He added: “My vision is something that can also be seen in the concept of Hauntify, which is the reshaping of the common perception of reality.”