In a clip from the Russia-1 network posted on Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s foreign ministry, the group discussed a plan for Moscow to seize London—including its soccer clubs and pubs.
“If we reach Lviv, it will be ours. If we reach Lisbon and London, they will be ours,” said one Kremlin propagandist.
He suggested that many Russians “now know London very well.”
“So many people had no idea which alley to turn into in Washington, New York, Los Angeles,” the pundit added.
Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts the nightly program on Russia-1, joined in by joking about how he thinks an invasion of London could play out.
“I can imagine our troops entering London, our guys running out of pubs and shouting, ‘Guys, turn left, turn right! We’ve been waiting for you here for a long time. Russian partisans in action!’ Right?” he said.
He suggested that fans of Chelsea football club, which was owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until earlier this year, would be “our very conspiratorial fifth column.”
Solovyov is an ally of President Vladimir Putin and regularly hosts on-air discussions about Russia’s ability to attack European capitals.
In September, State Duma deputy Andrey Gurulyov, former deputy commander of Russia’s southern military district, said on state TV that Russia could strike the U.K. with nuclear weapons and turn it into a “Martian desert” over its involvement in Ukraine.
Nuclear threats have also been made on state TV. Panelist Yuri Kot said in September that should the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant be damaged in the conflict, “two missiles will instantly land in your decision-making centers … one in Washington and the other in London.”
Meanwhile, in an interview published on Monday by pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, Russia’s ambassador in London outlined the most “extreme measure” it could take against the U.K., which would be to sever diplomatic ties.
Andrei Kelin said relations between Moscow and London were “undoubtedly at a very low level” and had been deteriorating for years, to the extent that the U.K. could be the first NATO member that Russia cuts ties with.
The British prime minister Rishi Sunak has condemned Russia’s invasion and told the G20 summit in November that the U.K. would “back Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Newsweek has reached out to Russian and British authorities for comment.
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