Vladimir Putin can be beaten by Ukraine using one key weapon says top US general

Russia can be sent packing from Ukraine if they unleash explosive underwater drones, a leading former US General has claimed.

After provocations that are said to have made war "inevitable" with western Europe unless measures to deter Vladimir Putin are taken, retired David Petraeus - who led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - believes he knows how the dictator can be stopped in his tracks.

Ukraine have the missiles to cause real damage, and claim its TLK-1000 sea drone has the ability to destroy targets from 1,200 miles away. General Petraeus, says there is a three-point plan that could even defeat Putin, But Kyiv still need support from the West to turn that into a reality.

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“This is the moment where Ukraine can stop the Russians cold on the battlefields if they are able to make even more unmanned systems,” he told The Telegraph in New York. “I drove an unmanned maritime system the other day in an undisclosed location in Ukraine and it hit 100km an hour, it’s amazing. Alongside aerial drones, Ukraine now has the Flamingo ground-launch cruise missile that travels 3,000km.”

He went on to tell the publication: “If those three sets of actions are taken simultaneously, I think you could finally get a situation where Russia would just be forced to halt the fighting because they can’t achieve additional gains or there could be a ceasefire agreement, if that is possible.”

It comes as it is claimed Russia is not interested in ending the war in Ukraine and is preparing to go into battle with NATO. Experts fear Putin is building a strategic reserve of new military recruits as he prepares to head into "direct conflict" with the military alliance. It comes as sources say almost 300,000 people have agreed to join the Russian Ministry of Defence since the start of the year.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, the number of new recruits is now increasing by an average of almost 8,000 per week. A number of the additions were part of a strategic reserve of forces that Russia has been building since early July 2025, it has been claimed.

The insider added that the reports "indicate that the Kremlin is not interested in ending its war against Ukraine but remains committed to achieving its war goals on the battlefield and may be preparing for a conflict with [NATO]", MailOnline report.

"The reported creation of a strategic reserve as part of wider Kremlin preparations for a possible Russia-NATO conflict in the future, particularly as Russia intensifies its youth military-patriotic programmes that aim to recruit Russian youth into the military in the years to come," the source added.

Pro-Kremlin media is reporting that more soldiers are being brought in from the population to fight its bloody war. This comes as Moscow continues to pay for more North Korean soldiers to head to the frontline, all in the hopes of winning the three-year-long conflict.

NATO is stepping up its own defences after a series of Russian incursions into its territory over the past couple of weeks. Putin and his cronies have strongly denied any involvement in the incursions, instead blaming the West for creating a false flag to start a potential Third World War.

As Russia's frontline in Ukraine continues to stall, Ukrainian media UNN reported that soldiers are being called up from the public to fight. The conscription will take place from Wednesday (October 1) and will continue all the way up to the new year.

In a decree signed off by Putin himself, all people aged 18 to 30 "who are not in the reserve" already will be called up to serve in the army, resulting in around 135,000 people being added to the nation's military personnel. These people are subjected to Russian laws which specifically state they are required to be conscripted in accordance with a law passed in 1998.