"We will bury them"; Open Threat: Destruction of London VIDEO

"We will bury them"; Open Threat: Destruction of London VIDEO

In the show "Evenings with Vladimir Solovyov" on the Russia 1 channel, attacks on Western capitals are often discussed, and the guests and the presenter present President Vladimir Putin's full invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between NATO and Moscow.

In the second part of the anti-Western narrative, Mikhail Delyagin, who is a member of the Russian parliament and has been sanctioned by the US and the United Kingdom, expressed his view of the relationship between Russia and the West.

"As long as London is not destroyed and exists as one of the financial centers of the world - if only secondary ... this corpse-like poison is a danger," he said on June 15. Then he added, "we're going to bury them."

Delyagin did not directly mention the missile strikes and his comments were part of a wider discussion of the war in the context of Russia's historic relationship with the West in which he also said "capitalism is ending", suggesting his criticism was of London as a financial centre.

A striking tweet by the Ukrainian Interior Affairs Adviser Anton Gerashchenko, who wrote: "Attention, London! Russian propagandists threaten to "bury" the business part of London - the City." The UK has been outspoken in supporting Ukraine with equipment such as Challenger 2 tanks and Storm Shadow missiles and training Ukrainian troops.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday at a conference in London discussing the reconstruction of Ukraine that "it is clear that Russia must pay for the destruction it has caused".

Solovyov's rhetoric on the show regularly includes bragging about Russia's nuclear capabilities and even describing the West in general, and sometimes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in particular, as "satanic."

This does not necessarily reflect Kremlin thinking, although presenters are regularly given a list of topics and angles to discuss.

Exhibitors then often interpret them and experiment with different narratives to compete for the attention of the public and the Kremlin. Solovyov last week called for the use of nuclear weapons against NATO countries whose equipment and training are helping Ukraine's war effort. He also said that the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia in the Ukrainian conflict was "inevitable".

He said that such weapons should be used at crossings over the Dnieper River, as well as at the entry points of railway traffic from Western countries that supply weapons.

The Pentagon also said it overestimated the value of the weapons it sent to Ukraine over the past two years by $6.2 billion. It said the unspent sum would be returned to a fund allocated to Kyiv to be used for future expenses.