When the Russian winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, Dmitry Muratov, in an interview with the BBC, warns of the imminent use of nuclear weapons by his country, many in the West will feel at least a twinge of terror — followed by the thought: let's not provoke Vladimir Putin too much with further military aid to Ukraine.

That is exactly what the Russian President would like us to think — although Muratov is anything but a Putin supporter: the independent newspaper he founded and edited, Novaya Gazeta, has been shut down by the Kremlin.

Muratov told the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg: 'Two generations have lived without the threat of nuclear war. But this period is over. Will Putin press the nuclear button, or won't he? Who knows? No one knows this.'

He went on to point out how Russian 'state propaganda is preparing people to think that nuclear war isn't a bad thing. On TV channels here, nuclear war and nuclear weapons are promoted as if they're advertising pet food . . . so that people here are ready.'

It's true that Russian TV programmes about the war in Ukraine are full of pundits almost salivating about the prospect of 'destroying' Britain with nuclear strikes in retaliation for our steadfast military support for the Ukrainians — against a studio backdrop of mushroom clouds over London.

many in the West will feel at least a twinge of terror — followed by the thought: let's not provoke Vladimir Putin (pictured) too much with further military aid to Ukraine. 

Muratov told the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg: 'Two generations have lived without the threat of nuclear war. But this period is over. Will Putin press the nuclear button, or won't he? Who knows? No one knows this.' Pictured: October 2022 Russian Yars missile launch