Wie Großbritannien zu Putins Feind Nummer eins wurde

Full article: Drowning Britain under a [radioactive tsunami](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/putin-tests-nuclear-doomsday-torpedo-how-worried-4010700?srsltid=AfmBOopEdsmHzqG3zap_IH63CkWqyCAMWulDqYeyg8MDc7ET5qmN7hVb&ico=in-line_link). Burning down the “satanic island” for installing a woman as its head of the church. Obliterating England with a nuclear warhead on a [“Satan” missile](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/putin-cold-war-era-scare-tactics-satan-missile-1586478?srsltid=AfmBOoozC6YwtYT-HXhB7fTdWOFAULe0Viiv7_EAN9qD_0VWlea78s85&ico=in-line_link).

Those are just a few suggestions from Russian state television propagandists on how to deal with the United Kingdom. Threats to strike Britain with a nuclear bomb feature regularly in the diatribes of Vladimir Solovyov, one of [Vladimir Putin’s](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?ico=in-line_link) favourite hosts**.** Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian senator and former deputy prime minister, shared a map of UK defence installations last year as possible targets for a military strike, pointedly advising Russians not to send their children to study in the UK.

Such rhetoric is by no means rare. Alarming, borderline fanatical language has become a staple of Russian narratives about Britain, voiced everywhere from prime-time talk shows to statements by top Kremlin officials.

Britons might be surprised to hear they are viewed with such hatred. However, in recent years, Britain has leapfrogged the United States to become Moscow’s public enemy number one. The UK is a [key target for Russia’s irregular warfare](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/russia-aiming-control-uk-tear-society-apart-4178655?srsltid=AfmBOoqAe_-31famt7go_ahC9Uk0UXPsXb0vjA1p0BtjXwspcbYXIdeK&ico=in-line_link), which includes everything from inundating Britons with disinformation online to launching cyber attacks, setting fire to buildings, [cutting vital cables](https://inews.co.uk/news/putin-plunge-uk-total-blackout-undersea-cables-protected-3796901?srsltid=AfmBOop0hFqYEh90JuKv0f34VsDG76NpO7po2RX4QK47h8wgCgqZkZUI&ico=in-line_link) and murdering critics.

Russia recently threatened punishment after Britain assisted the US in [seizing one of its sanctioned oil tankers](https://inews.co.uk/news/special-forces-uk-seize-putin-tankers-4166807?srsltid=AfmBOopbhs00Fq7IocieHohy1BmY3jLWx-dTo59vO1w5s93cwTPbJZIh&ico=in-line_link) in the North Atlantic. The UK said it would [step up “assertive action” against Moscow’s shadow fleet](https://inews.co.uk/news/45-sanctioned-russian-tankers-passed-through-the-channel-since-uk-crackdown-4190105?srsltid=AfmBOoqmAW7Z1pItCc8p79JWxrKYpA7m1mL0AuyigmVOCW5e84wbDiRI&ico=in-line_link), prompting an angry warning by the Russian ambassador that “its actions will not go unpunished”.

“It appears that Russia considers the UK one of its top Western intelligence targets” thanks to its close relationship with the US, and because it is seen as central to the Western anti-Russian lobby, according to a 2020 UK Intelligence and Security Committee report.

“Britain is framed not just as a rival state, but as a persistent, civilisational antagonist and a legitimate target,” said Dr Jade McGlynn, research fellow at the department of war studies at King’s College London. “This is a structural and consistent critique – not a reaction to anything we do.”

“Bri’ish academic overestimates Britain’s importance in the world.”