A senior Vladimir Putin official threatened to target Prince William with drone strikes if ‘he gets into our sights’.
It comes as the royal rode in a British Challenger 2 tank near the Russian border during a two-day visit this week to Estonia to support UK troops stationed there.
‘This is a great target for my drone pilots,’ Dmitry Rogozin wrote online, alongside a picture of William during military exercises in the Baltic state.
‘We haven’t yet zeroed out the heir to the throne, let alone the traditionally hostile Great Britain.
‘Let him do some PR for now, but if he gets into our sights, we won’t stand on ceremony.’
Rogozin currently heads a specialist military drone unit while also acting as a Kremlin-appointed senator for part of Zaporizhzhia, an illegally invaded and annexed territory in Ukraine.
He is a former Putin deputy premier and ex-head of the Russian Space Agency.
While in the latter role he lead tests of the 15,880mph Satan-2, aka Sarmat, the Kremlin’s largest hypersonic nuclear rocket, the size of a 14-storey tower block, weighing 208 tons.
Earlier this week he appealed for new volunteers for his military unit, dismissing hopes that the conflict might soon end.
‘The whole war is still ahead,’ said Rogozin.
“We need motivated and well-trained volunteers in the profile of our combat activities.’
The taunt from Rogozin – who was wounded in his bottom earlier in the war by a Ukrainian shell strike on his birthday party in Donetsk – was one of several from Putin’s war mongers following Prince William’s tank ride.
‘He will be sorely missed in a real burning tank,’ posted war Telegram channel Bati chitayut novosti.
‘Britain’s heir to the throne, Prince William, popped over to Estonia to take a spin in a tank near the Russian border,” said Aleksei Zhivov, a Russian military volunteer and political analyst.
‘That’s a pretty blunt message from the Royal Family to Moscow.
‘William also said he was there to show support for Estonia, which is ‘dangerously close to Russia’.
‘Well then, I suggest the Royal Family help move Estonia somewhere safer—Wales or Ireland, maybe?
‘And just a reminder—Britain’s not exactly far from Russia either. About 20 minutes by air, give or take [with a Putin missile].’
Vlad Shlepchenko, military analyst for ultranationalist Tsargrad TV, complained at the prince’s ‘visual message’ to us Russians’ that ‘British soldiers and British tanks are already here, on the lands of the Russian Empire and the USSR’.
Estonia was once part of the tsarist Russian empire and the communist Soviet Union and is often seen as the next target for invasion if Putin seeks to take new territory.
‘Prince William decided to scare Moscow and arrived in Estonia for NATO exercises… in a tank,” wrote Bloknot Rossiya war channel.
‘The tank chosen for intimidation was the Challenger 2 – a British legend, known for its high cost, poor cross-country ability and excellent flammability – which has already been proven in the [Ukrainian war] zone.
‘We approve of the prince’s choice – if NATO wants to intimidate Russia, then everything is going according to plan with such methods.’
The Russians also hit out at ex-Royal Navy Rear Admiral Chris Parry who warned one British nuclear submarine, armed with Trident missiles, could wipe out 40 Russian cities in a single strike.
Parry said: ‘One Trident submarine has the ability to incinerate 40 Russian cities very quickly.
‘That is a lot of food for thought for Putin and that should make any world leader fearful.’
One Russian war source – On The Frontline Telegram channel – said that ‘such statements’ by Parry ‘often miss a key element – the Russian counter-attack that will inevitably follow.
‘Vanguard submarines are certainly an important part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. But in a hypothetical standoff with Russia, the UK would not have the advantage, and here’s why.
‘Russian military doctrine envisages the use of the full range of weapons: from air-launched cruise missiles to the latest ballistic missiles, such as the Sarmat [Satan-2].
With a range of more than 11,000 miles, it has 750 kiloton power in each warhead – ‘enough to guarantee the destruction of not only military facilities such as the Catterick, Brize Norton, Lakenheath or Clyde bases [where the Vanguard submarines are based], but also key decision-making centres.
‘For example, the residence of the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in London will be one of the first targets for a retaliatory nuclear strike.
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‘If Britain decides to use nuclear weapons against Russia, then about a third of London will be wiped off the face of the Earth along with the residence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
‘And if the Sarmat with a full block of weapons is not spared for the entire British capital, then this city will cease to exist entirely.’
There are 900 British soldiers stationed in Estonia, making it Britain’s largest overseas deployment.
The prince was given a tour of training grounds at Tapa Camp – part of Operation Cabrit, which is the UK’s contribution to secure Nato’s ‘collective security and defence’ in a region vulnerable to Russian attack.
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