Putin's last stand: Russia warned it will be crushed by UK in revenge for nuclear strike

Russia stormed into Ukraine on February 24 after more than 100,000 troops spent weeks massing at the border with its neighbour – despite Vladimir Putin lying about their true intentions. A path of destruction has been left throughout Ukraine, with major cities reduced to rubble after heavy military bombardment and reports of mass graves containing thousands of bodies. But Putin’s war plan has been declared a failure by many – including many in Russia – who have lamented his troops’ inability to overcome a courageous Ukrainian fightback.

Russian soldiers have been pushed back out of cities they had been confident of occupying, forcing them into a drastic change of tactics and to refocus elsewhere.

There are now fears a desperate Putin could realise he is on the brink of defeat and resort to a dangerous plan the world is fearing most – nuclear weapons.

But Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy expert and aide for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told Express.co.uk: “The reality is the use of nuclear weapons by Russia would be the end of Russia, and they know that.

“This has been the state of affairs since World War Two, and every Russian leader since then understands Russia making the first move with a nuclear strike would be the end of Russia.

“Even the UK on its own has the ability to cripple Russia with its nuclear arsenal, let alone what the US has at its disposal.

“In fact, just defence from the UK alone if the Russians strike Britain would mean the end of Russia.”

Mr Gardiner doesn’t believe Putin would dare resort to the use of nuclear weapons and claimed such rhetoric is simply “classic Russian propaganda”.

He said this is being used as an intimidation tactic in a desperate attempt to splinter NATO and “put the fear of God into Western countries”.

The foreign policy expert continued: “At the same time, the Russian rhetoric about the use of nuclear weapons is overwhelmingly intended to intimidate.

“It is intended the divide NATO and threaten countries intending to join that defence alliance.

“This is just classic Russian propaganda we are seeing here, where they are making all kinds of threats and are trying to divide the Western alliance.

“Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons and they are always prepared to use them as part of their nuclear posture, and that should be no surprise.

“It is also part of their psychological warfare campaign that is designed to put the fear of God into Western countries.”

But Mr Gardiner has continued to warn Putin could be at his most dangerous with Russia’s war plan crumbling, and that he will always be thinking about revenge.

He urged the world not to underestimate what the Russian President is capable of, comparing him to a snake thrashing around in a bag that is waiting for the perfect opportunity to bite someone.

Mr Gardiner added: “Putin is a very angry man these days, always thinking about revenge and all sorts of things.

“He remains dangerous, as he always will be, so we have to be on our guard.

“We should never underestimate Putin and what he is capable of.

“He’s like a snake thrashing around in a bag, and snakes will bite.”

source: express.co.uk