MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Colonel General Boris Gromov, a hero of the Soviet Union, veteran of the Afghanistan war and former governor of the Moscow Region, warned that a future global war is not outside the realm of possibility, predicting that there would be no winners should such a conflict erupt.

"The situation is extremely alarming and tense amid a standoff between dozens of countries. We are witnessing geopolitical changes. As regards a global war, there is certainly such a probability," Gromov said in an interview with TASS on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

Commenting on the probability of a future global conflict, the retired general expressed his hope that Russia’s adversaries come to realize that there would be no winners in such a war.

In 1987-1989, General Gromov commanded the 40th Army in Afghanistan, while also serving as a representative of the Soviet government in charge of the temporary deployment of Soviet troops in the country. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union after leading Operation Magistral, which lifted the siege on the city of Khost. In 1989, Gromov developed a plan for the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan and oversaw the troops’ departure across the Amu Darya River.