Chilling prediction of Putin's 'Eurussian Empire' illustrates how Russia could spread war across Europe in five years

Ukraine has warned of the chilling consequences of allowing Russia to encroach on Europe’s border amid growing concerns about the shape of a looming peace deal.

United24, the official fundraising platform for Ukraine launched by President Zelenskyy in 2022, published its ‘Possible History‘ project on the third anniversary of the war as a stark warning to Europe.

The startling forecast, based on data February 2025 data from Estonian and Danish intelligence, begins this year with Russia receiving a favourable peace deal and the return of Russian state media to Europe.

Within just five years, they predict, Russia could be in a hot conflict with NATO forces. 

By July of this year, the hypothetical predicts that Russia will have already begun conducting military exercises in Belarus, near the borders with Poland and Lithuania.

With support from the puppet government in Transnistria, it is then able to capture Moldova, bordering Romania, within 15 months.

By the summer of 2027, United24 expects, Europe could experience internet outages caused by cut undersea cables – reminiscent of similar incidents in the Baltic blamed on Russia last November.

The forecast suggests that by December 2028 Europeans could be anxiously searching questions like ‘what is hybrid war?’, ‘nearest bombshelters Zurich’ and ‘who ddosed European airports?’ as conflict looms.

By mid-2029, pro-Russian governments in Slovakia and Hungary agree to host Russian military bases on their territory in the forecast.

Soon after, European nations are desperately scrambling to react by bringing back conscription and pouring funds into defence spending at the expense of social benefits.

The Ukrainian warning concludes in September 2030 with an aged Vladimir Putin announcing a special military operation on NATO, troops crossing the borders of Poland and Finland.

In a disclaimer, United24 adds: ‘What if Russia reaches Europe’s borders? It may sound dystopian, but just three years ago, war in Europe and missile strikes on Kyiv seemed unthinkable, too.’

The project was published on February 24, 2025 as Ukraine marked three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, termed a ‘special military operation’ in Russia.

It draws on studies from Danish intelligence and Estonian intelligence that concluded Russia is still mobilising resources in preparation for a potential conflict with NATO. 

The ‘possible future history 2025-2030’ echoes concerns across Europe about the shape a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia might take.

Where the Biden administration had offered Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in vital aid, Donald Trump has overseen a huge shift in American policy.

Representatives for Russia and the U.S. have met in Riyadh to begin talks towards finding a peaceful solution.

But Trump’s stated willingness to make concessions to Moscow without yet making strong security guarantees to Kyiv has many worried a bad deal could leave Ukraine – and wider Europe – vulnerable to attack.

One sticking point was the presence of peacekeepers in Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. Britain and France had shown willing to field peacekeepers, which Trump finally said he was ready to accept during talks with Emmanuel Macron in Washington this week.

Trump said in front of reporters that Putin ‘will accept that’ and ‘has no problem with it’ – an apparent volte face from Kremlin insistence that such a move would be an escalation. Russia has since said the move would indeed be unacceptable.

The Russian Embassy in the UK today insisted that Russia ‘poses no threat to the UK’, accusing the UK government of ‘needing these fabrications to avoid dealing with the country’s real social and economic problems’.

But intelligence agencies across Europe continue to warn that Russia poses a direct threat not only to Britain, but the wider continent, and could be planning for war within a matter of years.

Residents evacuate their homes as firefighters work in the aftermath of a Russian bombing of a residential area of Kramatorsk, Ukraine on February 25

Ukrainian servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade firing a MRLS BM-21 ‘Grad’ towards Russian positions, on February 23

Paratroopers of the 81st Separate Airmobile Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Troops, attend a training, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the town of Siversk, Donetsk region Ukraine January 21, 2025

Latvia’s intelligence agency, the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), reported earlier this month that ‘Russian intelligence and security services are currently developing their capabilities to organize sabotage in Europe’ in preparation ‘for a possible military confrontation with NATO in the long term’.

Should a peace deal play out to ‘freeze’ the conflict in Ukraine along existing battle lines, Moscow ‘would be able to increase its military presence next to NATO’s north-eastern flank, including the Baltics within the next five years’, the report claims.

‘This scenario would significantly increase Russia’s military threat to NATO,’ the SAB assesses.

Denmark last year came to a similar conclusion, that Russia could attack a NATO country within three to five years and ‘test’ the bloc’s Article 5 commitment of mutual defence.

It is a concern shared by Ukraine. Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russia could build up troops in ally Belarus, setting the stage for an attack into NATO. 

European leaders are wary of the dangerous precedent that would be set by welcoming Russia back into the international community after a prolonged invasion of Ukraine, dating back some 11 years.

United24’s possible history hold that with ‘Ukraine forced to make territorial concessions’ and peace ‘established without long-term guarantees’, Russia could begin conducting drills in Belarus by July 2025.

By October 2026, it said, Russia could ‘swiftly capture Moldova with North Korean troops’.

Thousands of North Korean troops were reportedly drawn in on Russia’s side late last year as Ukraine began making advances into Kursk. Experts separately warn that Russia seeks to keep Moldova in ‘geopolitical limbo’ by stoking internal divisions and frustrating reforms.

‘Throughout the war, there have been intermittent worries that Russian forces fighting inside Ukraine might seek to join up with the approximately 1,500 Russian troops stationed in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria to open a new front against Ukraine, destabilizing Moldova’s pro-Western course in the process,’ Maksim Samorukov wrote for the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center last October.

United24 warned that within three years Russia could target internet cables under the sea [AI generated image]

Citizens in Western Europe could soon be fearing Russian hybrid warfare attacks [AI generated image]

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire in a residential building after Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, 26 February 2025

Emergency service workers extinguish a fire in a residential building after Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, 26 February 2025.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025

Fears of Russia then attacking internet cables have been mounting alongside reports accusing the Kremlin of staging ‘hybrid warfare’ and sabotage on European soil.

Western leaders last year accused Russia of sabotaging vital cables in the Baltic twice within 48 hours, after Biden relaxed rules on Ukraine firing long-range missiles into Russia and amid speculation Europe may follow suit. 

A former senior European official told the Guardian that the EU is ‘totally unprepared’ to confront Moscow in its campaign of ‘hybrid’ warfare, lacking the resources to effectively counter sabotage, arson, assassination and attacks on infrastructure.

Concern was also roused when Russia reportedly tested cutting off internet access in some areas of the country to work on building its own sovereign network, late last year.

According to United24, the future history project ‘illustrates how Russia will be able to continue to play Europe by engaging in hybrid warfare and interfering in the politics of other countries. 

‘The already regular cutting of internet cables (which carry 95% of the world’s internet traffic) that are already happening regularly, could have much more serious consequences, highlighting the vulnerability of global infrastructure to a ruthless aggressor. 

‘Lifting sanctions will ultimately free the hands of an already successful Russian propaganda machine.’

A manipulated image depicts an aged Putin, shared by United24 

Moscow could seek control of Moldova, interfering with local politics [AI generated image]

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance as he sits next to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 26

A Russian Army sniper fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine

Soviet missiles are on display in a park on February 27, 2025 in Dnipro, Ukraine

While Putin insists that Russia has no designs on Europe, United24 warns that Putin has wider ‘imperialist ambitions’ for a new world order.

‘The concept suggests that having come out unscathed from his war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin continues to gather ‘imperial lands’ and announces a ‘special military operation’ targeting the Baltic states, former Soviet republics, and even some NATO countries,’ a statement read.

To illustrate the project, United24 included AI-generated images ‘to visualise the potential unfolding of events’ that they said would ‘add an immersive and thought-provoking layer to the narrative’. 

The project concludes with a clear call: ‘The course of history can still be changed. Peace is only possible through strength, not appeasement of a dictator.’

The project was developed by United24, an initiative that includes United24 Media (united24media.com), a platform for spreading information about events in Ukraine during the war, and United24 (u24.gov.ua), a fundraiser attracting international aid to Ukraine.