Russian TV Threatens Destruction of Western City: 'We Will Bury Them'

A Russian lawmaker has become the latest Kremlin propagandist to use fiery language to describe Moscow's clash with the West.

The program Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on the Russia 1 channel frequently discusses strikes on Western capitals, with the guests and the anchor portraying President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between NATO and Moscow.

In another instalment of the anti-Western narrative, Mikhail Delyagin, who is a deputy in the Russian parliament, and sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K, gave his view on relations between Russia and the West.

"As long as the City of London is not destroyed and exists as one of the financial centers of the world—if only a secondary one...this cadaver-like poison is a danger," he said on June 15. He then added, "we will bury them."

Delyagin did not directly mention missile strikes and his comments were part of a broader discussion about the war within the context of Russia's historic relationship with the West in which he also said that "capitalism is ending," suggesting his critique was of London as a financial center.

However, the striking soundbite was tweeted by Ukrainian internal affairs adviser, Anton Gerashchenko, who wrote, "attention, London! Russian propagandists threaten to 'bury' the business part of London—the City."

The U.K. has been forthright in its support for Ukraine with equipment such as Challenger 2 tanks and Storm Shadow missiles and has been training Ukrainian troops.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told a conference in London that is discussing rebuilding Ukraine how "it's clear Russia must pay for the destruction that they've inflicted."

The rhetoric on Solovyov's show regularly includes boasts of Russia's nuclear capabilities and even describing the West in general and sometimes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in particular, as "satanic."

This does not necessarily reflect the thinking of the Kremlin, although presenters are regularly given a list of topics and angles on them to discuss, known as "temniki."

Presenters then often interpret these and experiment with different narratives to compete for attention from both the public and the Kremlin.

Last week, Solovyov called for the use of nuclear weapons against NATO countries where equipment and training are helping Ukraine's war effort. He also said that the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia in the Ukraine conflict was "inevitable."

He said that such arms should be used on the crossings over the Dnieper River as well as entry points of railroad transport from Western countries which supply arms.

It comes as the Pentagon said on Tuesday that it would provide Ukraine with Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) as part of a $1 billion contract in which 17 other countries would also get the systems.

Separately, the Pentagon also said that it had overestimated the value of arms it had sent Ukraine over the last two years by $6.2 billion. It said that the unspent sum would be returned to the allocated fund for Kyiv to be used for future expenses.