Vladimir Putin and Russia have missiles that can strike the UK and even fly “into Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street back window”, an expert has warned.
Tensions around the globe are erupting to alarming levels as Russia continues to pummel Ukraine in its ongoing war, while Israel and Iran are closer to direct conflict than ever.
As a result, there have been increased calls for the UK and other allies to ramp up defence spending in case a global conflict becomes a reality.
Defence expert Tim Ripley has claimed the UK is so vulnerable that Putin could hit Prime Minister Sunak directly with a missile strike.
He highlighted the success of Israel’s Iron Dome system, which repelled most of Iran’s rockets last Saturday night.
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Mr Ripley told Times Radio: “As we saw, Israel came under attack from a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones, the sort we see over Kyiv almost every night coming from Russia.
“These weapons exist today, and the Russians have these weapons, we have seen them being used in Ukraine.
“If you draw a little circle on a map from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad…their cruise missiles can easily fly into Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street back window.
The defence expert continued: “Famously, in 2022, Boris Johnson was threatened by Putin, who said he could fly a missile into his office. And he was not joking.
“Britain doesn’t have a ground-based air defence system in the UK…so if we want to defend against Russian missiles, we really need to do something.”
After Israel’s defensive success on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West to help Kyiv prevent Russia from “pummelling” his country from the air.
He said: “The world has everything it needs to stop any missiles, ‘Shaheds’ and other means of terror. The world needs only solutions that can bring back real, reliable security.
“Ukraine can stop Russian terror, can protect its life, the life of all of Europe and other regions of the world from the spread of evil. It is for this that we need the support of our partners, and every day of delay in aid is new destroyed houses, it is additional destroyed lives.
“Thank you to everyone in the world who is really helping to defend against terror. Thank you to everyone who does everything to prevent evil from taking over.”
Mr Ripley added that Israel’s Iron Dome system highlights how vulnerable Ukraine is to Russian attacks.
He said: “If you compare Israel with Ukraine, in Israel they have a massive network of defence missiles that can take missiles out in space and shorter ranger systems, as well as fighter planes that can pick off drones.
“It is very expensive. I have seen one estimate that Israel shot off $800million worth of missiles at those incoming Iranian weapons.
“The Ukrainians have tried to do the same thing on a shoestring, and it is not working. They are running out of missiles and launchers, they are suffering badly.”
