A Kremlin state television presenter has called for Salisbury Cathedral’s spire to ‘fall on James Cleverly’s head’ after the Foreign Secretary voiced his support for Ukrainian attacks within Russia.
Olga Skabeyeva said she wanted to impale Cleverly with the spire, referencing the alibi used by two Russian assassins in the 2018 Novichok poisonings. The Moscow agents claimed they were ordinary tourists who wanted to see Salisbury Cathedral’s 123m spire when they visited the city on the day double agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned in the city.
Mr Cleverly said yesterday that Ukraine had the right to ‘project force’ beyond its own borders for self-defence following reports of a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow.
The Kremlin subsequently threatened that British officials were now ‘legitimate military targets’ for Moscow following the Foreign Secretary‘s statement.
Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev warned any British public officials who were deemed to be ‘facilitating’ Ukraine in its defence against Russia would be a target.
Olga Skabeyeva said she wanted to impale James Cleverly with the spire – a reference to the alibi used by two Russian assassins in the 2018 Novichok poisonings
‘In return, we believe that in order to render Cleverly harmless, we need to, for example, make the well-known Salisbury spire fall directly on his head,’ Olga Skabeyeva said
James Cleverly holds a SA80 rifle yesterday while meeting military officers on HMS Albion in Estonia
In her extraordinary spiralling rant against Cleverly, translated by the BBC’s Francis Scarr, Skabeyeva said that Nato had ‘voiced its approval’ of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s strikes on Moscow, adding: ‘British Foreign Secretary Cleverly said that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself and can use force beyond its borders.
‘According to Cleverly, legitimate military targets beyond Ukraine’s borders are part of Kyiv’s self-defence and the West must now recognise this.
‘Rendering Russia harmless is apparently entirely legitimate.
‘In return, we believe that in order to render Cleverly harmless, we need to, for example, make the well-known Salisbury spire fall directly on his head.’
Scowling at the camera, she concluded: ‘Completely legitimate. Do you agree?’
Medvedev, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and his deputy on the country’s security council, also hit out following Mr Cleverly’s statement, which was made during a visit to Estonia.
‘Today, the UK acts as Ukraine’s ally, providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia,’ Medvedev tweeted.
‘That being the case, any of its public officials (either military, or civil, who facilitate the war) can be considered as a legitimate military target.’
Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov (right) claimed they just happened to be ordinary tourists who wanted to see Salisbury Cathedral’s magnificent ‘123-metre spire’ on the day double agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned in 2018 in the city
Footage purportedly showing a suspected Ukrainian drone explode yesterday near Usovo village in Russia, close to Vladimir Putin’s official residence
A rambling Medvedev continued: ‘The UK’s Foreign Secretary Cleverly has stated that Ukraine “has the legitimate right to… project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself”.
Medvedev – seen by some as angling for a return as Russian president if Putin is forced out by war failings or ill-health – said: ‘The goofy officials of the UK, our eternal enemy, should remember that within the framework of the universally accepted international law which regulates modern warfare, including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols, their state can also be qualified as being at war.’
Cleverly, speaking on a visit to Nato member and Russia’s neighbour Estonia, where British troops are based, said Kyiv had ‘the legitimate right to defend itself’ when asked about yesterday’s drone attack on Moscow.
He said: ‘I don’t have details, and I am not going to speculate about the nature of the drone attacks in Moscow. So what I’m about to say are more general points, rather than on that specific incident.
‘Ukraine does have the legitimate right to defend itself. It has the legitimate right to do so within its own borders, of course, but it does also have the right to project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself.
‘So legitimate military targets beyond its own border are part of Ukraine’s self-defence. And we should recognise that.
‘That is not to say that I have any particular assessment over the attacks in Moscow, but more broadly military targets beyond its own border are internationally recognised as being legitimate as part of a nation’s self-defence.’
Several buildings in the wealthy suburbs of Moscow were damaged by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones yesterday, just hours after Putin unleashed another volley of strikes on Kyiv.
A specialist inspects the damaged facade of a multi-storey apartment building after a reported drone attack in Moscow yesterday
The Russian defence ministry said eight drones sent to Moscow by Ukraine were shot down or diverted with electronic jammers, though Baza, a Telegram channel with links to the security services, said there were more than 25.
After the drone attack, Putin accused Ukraine of trying to ‘frighten’ Russians with their ‘increasingly reckless behaviour’.
Ignoring the fact that Russia has unleashed a series of deadly air strikes on Ukrainian cities that have killed thousands since the start of the war 15 months ago, Putin claimed Kyiv had chosen the ‘path of trying to frighten the citizens of Russia’.
He said the drone attack was in revenge for earlier Russian strikes on ‘command centres’. In reality the Kremlin air strikes have hit residential buildings in Kyiv, causing residents to run for their lives to bomb shelters.
In the US, the White House said it was gathering information on the reports of drone strikes in Moscow.
‘We do not support attacks inside Russia. That’s it. Period,’ White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.
