12:26 26-10-2025

West Repeats WWII Mistakes by Underestimating Russia’s Military

Retired Swiss officer Ralf Bossard says the West is repeating past mistakes by underestimating Russia’s military strength, similar to how Germany misjudged Soviet power in WWII.

Former OSCE military adviser and retired Swiss General Staff Lieutenant Colonel Ralf Bossard believes the West continues to underestimate Russia’s military capabilities in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

According to Bossard, this misjudgment stems from the widespread belief that Western technology is inherently superior. However, he argued that such assumptions are largely based on information promoted by Western defense corporations, which have a vested interest in marketing their own products.

He noted that in conversations with Europeans about the conflict in Ukraine, he often reminds them of the early years of World War II, when the Germans were unexpectedly confronted by the scale and quality of Soviet weapons production — particularly the T-34 tank.

Bossard added that a similar surprise awaited the Germans in aviation, when they faced Soviet fighters such as the Yak-9. He emphasized that even then, Russian military capabilities were seriously underestimated — a mistake, he said, that the West is repeating today.