EXCLUSIVE: As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns Vladimir Putin has "already started" World War 3, one expert has shared an area to avoid at all costs
13:00, Tue, Feb 24, 2026 Updated: 13:39, Tue, Feb 24, 2026
Putin has supposedly already started WW3, according to Zelensky (Image: Getty)
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine – and now its leader has warned World War 3 has started. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the bombshell claim over the weekend, ahead of the four-year anniversary of the conflict today (February 24).
The war has seen a skyrocketing in international tensions and fears over the start of World War 3 have bounced up and down as the balance of the conflict has swung from Russia to Ukraine.
What’s more, the situation has been complicated by the return of Donald Trump to the White House, a man who claimed he would end the war in a day, but has so far failed to do so and been less supportive of Ukraine’s cause than his predecessor Joe Biden.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Image: Getty)
Speaking to the BBC, Zelensky said: “I believe that Putin has already started it [World War 3].
“The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him... Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves.”
There is understandably growing speculation over where the safest places to be in the UK are in the event World War 3 starts. Experts have shared in their droves the best places to visit, with a running theme being areas away from major army and naval bases as well as hugely populated cities.
Historian and author Dr David Swift named one particular area in the UK people should avoid.
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Online estate agency Emoov pulled together a list of 19 of the safest places in the UK if WW3 starts (Image: EMOOV)
He told us: "You also wouldn't want to be near the River Clyde as that's where the UK Trident submarines are based. Ideally you'd want to be somewhere in the countryside, far from major cities. The UK's energy and internet infrastructure is very vulnerable to sabotage, so it would be good to live somewhere off grid with an independent energy supply."
The River Clyde stretches 106 miles across Scotland, passing through Glasgow. HMNB Clyde – the home of Britain's nuclear submarines fitted with Trident missiles – is located on Gare Loch, which opens up into the main channel of the River Clyde.
Dr Swift added that it would be essential in the event of war to have access to broadband, he explained: "Two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland, for example, use oil heaters to provide their heat and energy, and so don't rely on mains gas. You would also want to have access to satellite broadband, which is available mostly in rural areas."
But there plenty of places that may be safe. Property firm EMoov compiled a list of 19 towns and cities across the UK that woul dbe outside the immediate impact areas if several major UK cities were hit.
When the list was put together, these areas were considered the safest places to be in the event of a world case scenario.
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