A hysterical Vladimir Putin propagandist has vowed to clobber Britain and the rest of Europe even more with high energy prices unless the West’s “moron” leaders stop “antagonising” Russia.
Yevgeny Popov is a staunchly pro-Kremlin MP and television anchor, married to Putin’s “Iron Doll” Olga Skabeyeva.
He made crystal clear on state TV that the Russian leader is seeking to force the West to change tack on Ukraine by blackmailing over the prices of gas and oil.
And he stressed the Kremlin playbook is to trigger a revolt by people across Europe against their leaders who are arming and supporting Ukraine.
If not, Putin would tighten the screw on oil and gas prices as winter approaches, he made clear.
In his latest rant, Popov flailed his arms and declared: “No need to make excuses. Brits, it was us who created the high energy prices.
"Eat and devour high prices, Europeans. Here's to you: huge oil prices. Here's to you: the high price of gas… You want more? Go ahead, fight with us.
“Your authorities, Europeans, are morons - the only thing they can do is to antagonise Russia. They don't care about your welfare.
“If they keep doing that, we will make your life even [worse].
“And we don't care what your future holds. We only care about our future.”
His rant indicates that the West’s sanctions are biting on Putin’s regime which is becoming increasingly angry about the flow of arms from NATO countries to Ukraine.
It comes as a leading Russian senator vowed Putin will come to China's aid if it goes to war over Taiwan.
But Vladimir Dzhabarov also pleaded for more support from Beijing for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
“I see no grounds to refuse to help China,” said the politician who is first deputy chairman of the international committee in Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament.
“But I would like to see a two-way movement with China. It means that we should have some benefits from this cooperation.”
There is concern in Moscow that Putin’s wooing of China has failed to produce better results in support for his war in Ukraine.
Close Putin ally Dzhabarov made clear that Russia will ready back China in any conflict over disputed island Taiwan, revelling in an anti-Western alliance.
“I am convinced that in this case China hopes for a certain assistance from Russia,” he said.
This was the case “because it will be difficult for China to confront the United States without Russia’s support.”
He stressed: Nothing is impossible…
“Sometimes it is a game of chance and a conflict may grow into a big war.
“But I think that China is behaving very cautiously in this sense, in a very restrained manner, while continuing to build up its defence potential.”
In a Putin decree, Dzhabarov, 69, a former FSB officer, was in 2018 awarded the prestigious Alexander Nevsky order “for services in strengthening Russian statehood”.
