Putin should have nuked the Queen’s funeral while world leaders were all in one place, one of the Kremlin’s most-prominent propagandists has declared.
Olga Skabeyeva, dubbed Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’, made the ghoulish suggestion last night – just hours after Her Majesty’s body was laid to rest at the end of 11 days of mourning.
The 37-year-old – who is married to a Russian politician – was speaking with guests about when and where her country could use its nukes when she said: ‘We should have done it today, all the best people are [in Britain] for the funeral.’
With a wry grin she then added: ‘God forgive me.’
Olga Skabeyeva, a propagandist dubbed Putin’s ‘Iron Doll’ suggested last night that Russia should have nuked the Queen’s funeral
Skabeyeva made the remark in response to guest Andrey Gurulev, a retired general and current MP, who dismissed claims Russia would strike Ukraine.
‘We still have to live over there in Ukraine,’ he said. ‘We have plenty of targets. Ramstein [airbase in Germany] is a good fat one, but it could wait.
‘Why would we bomb Ukraine or Germany when there is Britain – the root of evil?’
The UK could be ‘bled white’ and turned into a ‘Martian wasteland’ with just a small number of Russian strikes, he said, after which NATO would ‘back off’.
‘When Britain is turned into a Martian wasteland, what will NATO’s Article 5 [defending collective security] be about,’ he said.
‘Defending the Martian wasteland? There will be nothing left there. An unshakable island – it will be shakable.’
Gurulev’s remarks come as Russia’s propagandists try to make sense of their country’s latest battlefield humiliation after their troops were routed near Kharkiv.
Skabeyeva made the remark during a debate about when and where Russia should use its nuclear weapons (pictured, a new Sarmat missile)
Andrey Gurulev, a retired general and current MP, said Britain should be prioritised for a strike – calling this country the ‘root of evil’
Unlike previous retreats from Kyiv and around Snake Island, Russian state media has struggled to play off the debacle as anything other than a defeat.
But, rather than admit being beaten by Ukraine, Putin’s mouthpieces argue that NATO forces are directly involved in the fight and have beaten them instead.
That has led to increased calls for Russia to strike back at NATO allies.
Former commanders of the military alliance have also warned of the risk that Putin could resort to nukes as his invasion falters.
Rose Gottemoeller, who was deputy secretary general of the alliance from 2016 to 2019, said the Russians may ‘strike back in really unpredictable ways’ after the rout around Kharkiv.
Ms Gottemoeller said those strikes could include firing a nuclear weapon into the Black Sea or at a Ukrainian military base as a demonstration of might.
‘The goal would be to get the Ukrainians, in their terror, to capitulate,’ she explained.
Ms Gottemoeller said Russia is unlikely to use long-range nuclear weapons of the kind that could hit Britain or the US, but will hope to deter Ukraine’s western allies from supporting its war effort.
Hundreds of world leaders, diplomats and royals attended the Queen’s funeral yesterday in Westminster Abbey (pictured, Joe Biden takes his seat among the dignitaries)
Quizzed on the BBC about how the West should respond in the event of a nuclear strike, she added: ‘I stress that if [the Russians] do go down that route then we should not respond in a nuclear way.
‘[We] should bring our other considerable capacities to bear, whether that be a cyber response or conventional [weapons] response.’
She also stressed that western military aid and training to Ukraine should continue, but that diplomatic channels should be kept open to the Kremlin.
Asked what the West should be telling Putin, she said: ‘ We’ve done an excellent job sending a clear message to Moscow of: “No impunity.”
‘We know what you’re up to, you’re not going to get away with it’
‘If there is a move towards weapons of mass destruction, and I have seen no indication so far that there is, but if there is then we need to get it out there and say to the Russians: “No impunity here”.’