Putin's U.K. Missile Strike Would 'End British Crown': Russian General

A Russian politician and general encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime to launch missile strikes on the British Isles in an appearance on Russian state television, saying that such attacks "would be the end of the British Crown."

A video and an English translation of Andrey Gurulev's comments were shared in a Mirror story that was published Tuesday, though it was not immediately clear when he made his guest appearance. Gurulev said that an attack on the British Isles, a term that refers to Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands, could help Russia "change the outcome of this conflict" in Ukraine. When asked if Britain was readying for war with Russia, Gurulev responded that it was, saying that Russia was actually fighting Britain and the U.S. in Ukraine.

"Let's make it super simple. Two ships, 50 launches of Zircon [missiles]—and there is not a single power station left in the U.K.," he said. "Fifty more Zircons—and the entire port infrastructure is gone. One more—and we forget about the British Isles. A Third World country, destroyed and fallen apart because Scotland and Wales would leave. This would be the end of the British Crown. And they are scared of it."

Gurulev's suggestion of an attack on the British Isles to alter the outcome of the ongoing war came as Ukraine began a counteroffensive in the Russian-occupied Kherson region on Monday. While Russian officials have continued to stress that their Ukraine operation is going to plan and will succeed, some U.S. military officials have said that this is not the case.

James Stavridis, a retired U.S. admiral, told MSNBC's Nicole Wallace in an interview last week that Russia's offensive had "stalled" while Ukraine was gearing up for its own counter operation. The retired U.S. General Barry McCaffrey also said last week that Putin is "out of ideas" in the war and his military is "operationally in a box." He predicted that things will quickly get worse for the longtime Russian leader.

While Putin has not directly threatened to attack any countries outside of Ukraine—though he has said that any nations that "create a strategic threat to Russia" in Ukraine can expect "retaliatory strikes"—Russian state television has repeatedly encouraged an escalation of the ongoing conflict.

This month, one Russian state television guest threatened that any damage or disasters at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine would lead to missiles being launched at the U.S. and U.K.

In June, a group of panelists on Russian TV argued over whether Russia should threaten the U.S. with nuclear war or an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Newsweek reached out to the U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Russia's Defense Ministry for comment.