Ukraine war: Stop Vladimir Putin turning country into 'Nazi Germany of 21st century', Russians urged

Russians have been urged to prevent Vladimir Putin turning their country into "the Nazi Germany of the 21st century" by a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Unless stopped, Mr Putin would "destroy the world" and is "crazy enough" to use nuclear weapons, Leonid Volkov has warned.

Despite the threat of harassment and up to 15 years in jail, Mr Volkov said thousands had turned out to protest in Russia against the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.

He made his comments to Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme from Lithuania as Russia continued its deadly onslaught against its neighbour, causing millions to flee.

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Mr Volkov is chief of staff to Mr Putin's most prominent opponent.

Mr Navalny was jailed last year when he returned to Russia after receiving medical treatment in Germany for a poison attack during a visit to Siberia in 2020.

Mr Volkov said: "This is not our war, not in our name.

"He is doing it not in our name, but it looks like so far, we are not strong enough to stop him and he is continuing to do all this enormous things, and crimes and war crimes in our name.

"What will people think and tell of us like in 10 or 20 years? Will Russia become the Nazi Germany of the 21st century?

"We urge our compatriots to do whatever possible to stop him before it's too late."

Pressed over whether Mr Putin would be prepared to use nuclear weapons, Mr Volkov said: "As he is crazy enough, we can expect, unfortunately everything.

"He is clearly not winning the war against Ukraine, and he might think about other solutions that is more powerful, more powerful solutions to change the course of this war, which is now not so successful for him."

Thousands were also defying the authorities to protest against the Kremlin, he said.

Mr Volkov told Ridge: "In Russia now, just coming out for a peaceful protest rally, you would face up to 15 years imprisonment and still there are people that participate in these protests.

"Last Sunday over 5,000 people have been detained, which means that over 50,000 people at least have turned out... brave enough to say 'Okay, I cannot accept all this horror being done in my name, so I'm ready to go to jail for 15 years just because this is so unbearable'."