A former adviser to Vladimir Putin has claimed UK cities could be nuclear targets for the Russian president and blamed the Ukraine war on the West as he launched into a bizarre rant on British radio.
Sergei Markov made a number of unsubstantiated claims – including that Western countries were using Ukrainian soldiers “as slaves” – before shouting down the phone line during his interview.
He threatened the West with nuclear war before taking any questions on the BBC’s Today program on Wednesday morning.
“Good morning to you,” said the presenter, to which the former Putin adviser replied: “Good morning. Well it’s not good morning… to everyone.”
He continued: “For the West, for you, for the British audience, I would say that Vladimir Putin has told us that he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons against the West, including nuclear weapons against Great Britain.
“Your cities will be targeted…” said Mr. Markov before interrupting.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Mr Putin warned that he would be prepared to use weapons of mass destruction to “protect” his country.
“When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we must use all the means at our disposal,” the Russian president said.
The former Putin adviser began rambling about nuclear war within seconds of his BBC Radio 4 interview
(Sky News/Twitter)
Mr. Markov was asked if he believed the Russian leader had made a clear threat not only to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine but to start a general nuclear war that would kill everyone.
He replied “not everyone” but added it “could kill a lot of people in Western countries”.
The former Putin adviser said: “I would say that everyone in the world is thinking about… nuclear war. This nuclear war could be the result of the crazy behavior of US President Joe Biden and Great Britain Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Vladimir Putin has warned that he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia
(Russian Presidential Press Service)
He claimed that Russia “doesn’t want everyone in the world to die” in a nuclear war, but it wants to resolve the war in Ukraine, which he claimed Western countries are fighting “using Ukrainian soldiers as their slaves”.
After claiming Russia wanted peace, Mr Markov was challenged by a BBC presenter who said: “You don’t talk much about peace, do you? You’ve threatened us all with total annihilation, nuclear missiles are coming to London, you say, and now you’re talking peace.
Mr. Markov replied: “If Great Britain continues to be an aggressor against Russia, if Liz Truss, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, still has plans to destroy Russia, the people of London should understand that this threat comes from Liz Truss who is an aggressor.”
He ended the interview by shouting at the presenter, claiming that Russia did not invade Ukraine and blaming the West for the war.
A Foreign Office Minister, who was the next guest today On the program, he was asked what he made of the interview.
“More lies from Putin. A complete rewriting of history. A bit of saber rattling,” says Gillian Keegan. “And talk of nuclear war is too unhelpful and we would call for calm.”
Seven months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine
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He added: “It’s a serious threat but it’s one that’s been made before.”
Mr Markov has previously made baseless claims about the war in Ukraine to UK media, telling Sky News Volodymyr Zelensky was a US “puppet” and that Russia had invaded Ukraine to rid it of “neo-Nazis”.
He also said talk TV presenter Jeremy Kyle was “probably confused” when asked about blaming Mr Putin for the deaths in Ukraine.
