Russian state media propaganda has escalated with threatening rhetoric targeting Britain following the assassination of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik in Moscow. The killing occurred last week in the eastern suburb of Balashikha where a Volkswagen car laden with explosives detonated near Moskalik's home. Moskalik served as deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and was responsible for briefing President Vladimir Putin on the conflict in south-eastern Crimea.
While the Kremlin attributed the attack to Ukrainian agents, Russian propagandists have redirected blame at Britain. Military commentator Andrei Klintsevich, speaking on the Russia 1 television channel, accused Britain’s security services of supplying explosives “by the ton” to carry out such attacks. Vladimir Solovyov, a prominent Kremlin-aligned media figure, intensified the rhetoric in comments aired on Russian television, warning that “British blood who authorised the killings on Russian soil must be spilled.” He further declared, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and threatened retaliation against British intelligence infrastructure, stating, “If these factories blow up [and] the headquarters of the intelligence agencies that gave the go-ahead for the terrorist attacks, they should not be surprised.”
The Moskalik assassination is part of a pattern of high-profile bombings targeting Russian military officials. In December, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological defence troops, was killed in a similar bombing outside his Moscow apartment. Just this month, electronic warfare expert Yevgeny Rytikov, leading the design bureau at the Bryansk Electromechanical Plant, was also killed in a car bombing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to acknowledge responsibility for these targeted killings during a recent briefing, expressing thanks to his foreign intelligence chief “on the liquidation of individuals from the top command of the Russian armed forces.”
Simultaneously, Russian officials continue to issue nuclear threats against NATO countries. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a vocal critic of the West, warned that the recent NATO accessions of Sweden and Finland transform these countries into potential nuclear targets. Speaking to the TASS state news agency, Medvedev asserted: “Now they are part of a bloc hostile to us which means they automatically became a target for our armed forces, including potential retaliatory strikes and even the nuclear component or preventive measures within the framework of a military doctrine.” Sweden joined NATO in March 2023, followed by Finland in April, extending NATO's border with Russia by more than 1,300 kilometres.
In parallel, Moscow has cautioned Britain against assembling a “coalition of the willing” to deploy forces within Ukraine, warning that Western boots on the ground could escalate the conflict into a nuclear World War III scenario. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Security Council secretary and former Defence Minister, reiterated Moscow’s rejection of Western troop deployment in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
The Daily Mail is reporting these developments as indicators of heightened tensions between Russia and Western nations, with intensified propaganda, targeted killings of military figures, and stark nuclear warnings underscoring the ongoing conflict's risks and volatility.
Source: Noah Wire Services