Vladamir Putin’s “propaganda chief” has threatened the West with nuclear annihilation during a rambling broadcast on Russian TV. News anchor Dmitry Kiselyov told viewers across Russia’s 11 time zones that the West would be blown to smithereens with “more than 500 nuclear warheads” if it continued to threaten Moscow.

The bonkers threat comes as Putin ordered his nuclear forces be put on high alert and are now “combat ready”. Speaking on national TV, the deranged presenter warned: “Our submarines can shoot more than 500 nuclear warheads. “This would guarantee destruction of the USA, and all other NATO countries.”

Kiselyov appeared to back his argument with the crackpot principle that if Russia wasn’t part of the globe then “why do we need the world?” Continuing his diatribe, Kiselyov threatened: “Russia’s nuclear arms are delivered by the world’s fastest strategic bombers. “That’s without even mentioning Russian Strategic Missile Forces.

“The Russian nuclear potential is the strongest in the world. ‘The civil war in Ukraine is now more than real. People are starting to realize that they don’t need to fear Russian soldiers, but their own neighbors who’ve got hold of weapons.’ Dmitry Kiselev, one of the Kremlin’s most venomous TV propagandists, also accused German chancellor Olaf Scholz of ‘solidarity with the genocide of today’ that Kiselev, parroting Putin, claimed was being perpetrated against Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

The propaganda has led many Russians to be convinced that the conflict was provoked by the West. Speaking on nationwide TV amid a frenzy of anti-Western rhetoric, TV anchor Dmitry Kiselyov told viewers: ‘Our submarines can shoot more than 500 nuclear warheads. ‘This would guarantee destruction of the USA and all other NATO countries.

‘In accordance with the principle ‘Why do we need the world, if Russia isn’t there?’ ‘Russia’s nuclear arms are delivered by the world’s fastest strategic bombers. ‘That’s without even mentioning Russian Strategic Missile Forces. The Russian nuclear potential is the strongest in the world.