Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine has accused Britain of providing explosives used in a series of high-profile assassinations inside Russia – and warned that “British blood must be spilled” in retaliation. The extraordinary claim was made on state-controlled Russian television, where Kremlin mouthpieces directly blamed UK security services for the deaths of several senior military figures, including two generals.
They offered no evidence – but issued a chilling warning of revenge against the UK. The broadcast focused on the recent killing of Major-General Yaroslav Moskalik, 59, who died when a Volkswagen Golf exploded as he walked past it near his home in Moscow.
General Moskalik, a key military planner, had reportedly briefed Putin directly on operations in Crimea.
The same programme also referred to the deaths of Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, 54 – a senior chemical and biological warfare officer killed by a bomb in December – and Yevgeny Rytikov, 34, an electronic warfare expert assassinated earlier this month in Bryansk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to confirm his country’s involvement, saying this week he had been briefed by his intelligence chief “on the liquidation of individuals from the top command of the Russian armed forces”.
He added: “Thank you for your work.”
But on Russia-1, notorious Putin ally Vladimir Solovyov accused Britain of supplying the explosives used in the attacks. Speaking to ammunition expert Andrei Klintsevich, he posed what he called the “big question”: where had the material come from?
Mr Klintsevich declared – without offering any proof: “It is all British, imported by the ton.
“We do realise that someone is creating a network of planted explosives, and transporting these explosives.”
Solovyov added: “So someone had to smuggle it across Europe, removing it from warehouses.
“When we say that British security services are behind every terrorist attack, it means that the blood of the British who authorise the killings on Russian territory must be spilled.”
In a furious tirade, he said: “They must realise that they will pay personally. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
Mr Klintsevich, a former Russian senator, claimed it was possible to trace batches of explosive back to their country of origin.
He said: “All explosives have certain types of labelling. Each time a batch is made… it is possible to understand where it came from.
“I’m sure our intelligence services have long understood the source down to the factory and the year of manufacture.”
Solovyov closed the broadcast by threatening retaliation against British intelligence.
He said: “If these factories blow up – as well as the headquarters of the intelligence agencies that gave the go-ahead for the terrorist attacks – they should not be surprised.”
There has been no official response from the UK Government.
However, in October 2024, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced sanctions against three Russian agencies and three senior figures involved in disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining Ukraine’s democracy.
He said: “Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest,” and affirmed that the UK would not tolerate such lies and interference .
Ambassador James Roscoe, speaking at the UN General Assembly Committee on Information in May 2022, criticised Russia’s use of hostile information operations to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty and obscure the truth, warning that such disinformation operations threaten to undermine public trust in media and international institutions .