Putin mouthpiece warns ‘nuclear strike on Britain is inevitable’ on Russian TV

It comes as NATO warns Europe to prepare for war

This comes as Europe was told it must be prepared for war as it is the next target of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, according to NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Europe was told it must be prepared for war as it is the next target of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, according to NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, warned Europe to be prepared for “the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”.

Rutte said that Europe is “already in the danger zone”, while Russia within five years could take military action against the alliance of 32 states.

“We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now”, Rutte said today in Berlin.

“Conflict is out our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”, he warned.

And following news that a British paratrooper died in Ukraine, on Russian state TV a nuclear threat was issued to the UK.

Leading Russian news anchor Vladimir Solovyov told viewers on his nightly show “now a nuclear strike on Britain is inevitable”, and Putin's propagandists said the presence of British armed forces in Ukraine amounts to a “casus belli” – which means an act or situation provoking or justifying war - for a nuclear strike.

Another Putin supporter, historian Andrey Sidorov, said on state TV: “This incident should be considered a 'casus belli', when the British Ministry of Defence officially acknowledged the death of its military personnel on active duty on Ukrainian territory.”

British ambassador Nigel Casey “should explain what an active-duty military officer was doing there”, he said, as he called on the Russian foreign ministry to summon him.

The Russian government last week issued a WW3 warning, saying that NATO is now “actively preparing for the inevitable”.