Vladimir Putin issues chilling threat if West does one crucial thing during Ukraine war

By Conor Wilson, News Reporter

Putin made the threats on Russian state TV (Image: Getty)

Vladimir Putin has warned NATO countries Russia's Defence Ministry is drawing up plans for a response to any western supplied missiles being fired into Russia by Ukraine.

Speaking in an interview on Russian state TV, Putin stopped short of saying how Russia would respond but explained that they would be left with no choice if Russia were attacked in that way.

Putin said: "The Russian Defence Ministry is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian territory. It will offer a range of options.”

The ability to fire western-supplied missiles into Russia is something that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lobbied for over a year.

Currently, Ukraine is supplied with missiles from countries such as the US, France, and the UK on the condition that they only use them in a defensive capacity.

Zelensky has repeatedly demanded authorisation to strike inside Russia (Image: Getty)

Ukraine believes the ability to do so allows it to target Russian army logistical centres supplying troops on the frontline as well as enabling them to target Russian morale through strikes on large urban areas.

The western supplied missiles have a range of hundreds of kilometres, allowing them to travel further, quicker, and be more deadly than the drones that Ukraine currently uses to attack Russia to limited effect.

Ukraine has been victim to dozens of similar attacks on its cities.

Britain supplies storm shadow missiles to Ukraine - But only to be used defensively (Image: Getty)

Russia has long-warned NATO that any authorisation of use in this way will be considered a major escalation in the conflict.

Last month, Putin warned he would consider such a strike as "direct NATO involvement", in other words, he would consider NATO to have attacked the Russian mainland themselves.

In another statement, Putin warned Russia could respond to conventional missile strikes with nuclear weapons, effectively lowering the threshold for a strike and putting the world on a path toward nuclear war.