Russia staged a nationwide test of its air-raid sirens today as Vladimir Putin’s state TV warned it could destroy the entire British Army within two months. The late-morning alert sounded across the country’s 11 time zones, with officials urging citizens not to panic but to switch on televisions or radios for emergency instructions.
Russia’s emergencies ministry said the system is designed to quickly warn the public in the event of war, disasters or other emergencies. It told people: “On hearing a siren, you must remain calm and not panic. “Turn on the television – any public channel or radio – and listen to the informational announcement.”
In the city of Yekaterinburg, television programmes were briefly interrupted with a message reading: “ATTENTION EVERYONE! THE PUBLIC ALERT SYSTEM IS BEING TESTED! PLEASE REMAIN CALM!”
The test, stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific, came amid increasingly aggressive rhetoric from Kremlin media as tensions escalate in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
Putin’s propaganda outlets also took aim at Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roly Walker, who recently warned Britain was on a “collision course” with a Russia now on a war footing.
State TV host Vladimir Solovyov, one of Putin’s most prominent mouthpieces, questioned whether Britain was strong enough to face Russia.
“We just need to understand the size of the British Army. How many do they have now?” he asked.
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Military commentator Andrei Klintsevich replied: “75,000, including those with fur hats ]and so on.”
Solovyov responded: “That’s two months of our work, and it will be completely destroyed, using conventional methods.”
He also mocked Sir Keir Starmer’s suggestion British troops could help police a peace deal in Ukraine.
“This army will be worn down in two months,” he said.
“Even strikes with conventional weapons and a large number of coffins going to Britain will raise the question: what are you idiots doing?”
Solovyov also claimed Britain lacks the logistics to deploy troops.
“There are no logistics to deliver them there, nor anywhere to place them,” he said.
“They will be immediately destroyed by precision strikes.”
Russia currently has around 1.5 million military personnel, despite suffering huge losses during its invasion of Ukraine.