A leading Kremlin mouthpiece has warned that the West’s overt backing for Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory could lead not to Russia’s defeat but to the “total annihilation” of Ukraine.
The warning from Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the propaganda outlets RT and Sputnik, came after further Ukrainian strikes overnight on the border city of Belgorod, a key supply center for Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine
“Explosions and air defense sirens in Belgorod,” Simonyan wrote early Thursday in a message on Telegram. “The Anglo-Saxons publicly encourage Ukraine to take their hostilities into Russian territory. And they give them means to carry that plan out.
“What choice do you leave us, idiots? The total annihilation of what remains of Ukraine? A nuclear strike?”
In Putinist circles the term “Anglo-Saxons” can be used as a bit of a catch-all for malign Western influences, but there appeared to be little doubt that Simonyan’s message was referring to Britain.
British defence minister James Heappey prompted outrage in Moscow earlier this week when he said he thought it was “completely legitimate” for Ukrainian forces to strike against targets in Russia and it was “not necessarily a problem’” if they used weapons donated by Britain.
The British military has actively trained Ukrainian forces since Russia annexed Crimea and sent special forces into eastern Ukraine in 2014. The U.K. has also supplied large amounts of arms, including valuable mobile anti-tank weapons.
In an interview with Times Radio, Heappey said: “Ukraine was a sovereign country that was living peacefully within its owner borders and then another country decided to violate those borders and bring 130,000 troops across into their country.
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