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Russian state TV presenter says Moscow should have bombed UK during Queen's funeral

Olga Skabeyeva said Russia should have launched a nuclear strike on the UK on the day of the Queen's funeral. (Russia-1)
Olga Skabeyeva said Russia should have launched a nuclear strike on the UK on the day of the Queen's funeral. (Russia-1)

A presenter on Russian state TV has said Moscow should have bombed the UK during the Queen's state funeral.

Controversial TV host Olga Skabeyeva made the comment on Russian state television on Monday.

She was agreeing with panelist Andrey Gurulyov, a retired military commander and deputy in the Russian federal assembly, who said his country should target the UK with a nuclear strike.

In a video flagged by Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis, Skabeyeva said with a smirk: "We should have done it today, all the best people are there for the funeral."

Gurulyov had told state channel Russia-1: "Why would we bomb Ukraine or Germany, when there is Britain, the root of evil?

Read more: World should prepare for the collapse of Russia, warns former US general

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors to Russia at the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Pavel BEDNYAKOV / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by PAVEL BEDNYAKOV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian president Vladimir Putin has suffered a series of setbacks in Ukraine in recent weeks. (AFP via Getty Images)

"When Britain is turned into a Martian desert, will they defend a Martian desert as per their fifth article? There will be nothing left."

This is a reference to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato), which provides that an attack on one Nato ally will be considered an act of violence against all members.

But Gurulyov said: "I assure you, everyone will back down, they will not use the strategic nuclear forces."

Russian state television is routinely used by Moscow to broadcast its propaganda. It is believed Russia-1, has the second largest audience in the country.

Watch: Bodies of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers found near border town

Skabeyeva has been nicknamed the "Iron Doll of Putin TV" because of her continuous spouting of pro-Kremlin views.

It isn't the first time Gurulyov has called for a nuclear strike on the UK.

Last month, he told Russian state television that the quickest way to defeat Ukraine was to "wipe out the British isles" and turn it into a "third world country".

He said this would make it easier for Russian president Vladimir Putin to continue with his invasion of Ukraine.

Read more: How the Ukraine war went catastrophically wrong for Putin

IZIUM, UKRAINE - 2022/09/19: Ukrainian soldiers ride in an armored tank in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in the Kharkiv region. Russian troops occupied the town of Izium on April 1, 2022. (Photo by Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers ride in a tank on Monday in the town of Izium, recently liberated from Russian forces. (Getty Images)

Despite the overblown rhetoric, the situation on the ground has deteriorated for Moscow in recent weeks, with Ukrainian forces reclaiming large swathes of land in the Kharkiv region.

Those losses finally sparked some Russian commentators to take to state TV to question their country's methods in Ukraine, suggesting the Kremlin's grip over its control on public pronouncements is weakening.

According to a survey published last month by independent pollsters Rosmir, a quarter of Russians have stopped watching state-run channels because they are tired of its propaganda surrounding its invasion of Ukraine.

The Moscow Times reported that only 65% of Russians are watching state-run stations, a drop from 86% at the beginning of the invasion in February.

Watch: Russia 'likely to concede area half size of Wales' in Ukraine