RUSSIA has branded Keir Starmer an “illiterate fool” in a chilling warning after the UK vowed to sent British troops to Ukraine.
Putin’s attack dog Dmitry Rogozin implied the decision would open up the UK to missile strikes by Russia.
The former deputy premier and space agency chief said: “Even after Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, such thoughts never occurred to England, France, or the Turks and Sardinians.
“Of course, Starmer is illiterate and a fool in the grand scheme of things, but he should still understand what we will do to their shi*** kingdom if they actually try to implement this nonsense.”
It comes as European allies made groundbreaking agreements on “robust” security guarantees for Ukraine following a breakthrough summit in Paris on Tuesday.
British troops will be deployed to “military hubs” in Ukraine, it was agreed, to end Putin’s war and secure lasting peace.
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Despite Rogozin’s threats, former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov has cast doubt on Putin’s position.
He told Times Radio the coalition of the willing’s security guarantees for Ukraine have “changed the game”.
And he added the move marked “important” pressure on Putin which has left the despot floundering.
It is currently unclear what form these “military hubs” could take, and details of any British military presence in Ukraine may still be subject to further negotiations.
Rogozin’s threats came as Vladimir Putin marked Orthodox Christmas with a midnight service in Moscow, flanked by GRU military intelligence generals.
During the event, Putin told his troops they are killing in Ukraine on God’s orders.
He said: “Today [at Orthodox Christmas] we celebrate the wonderful, bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ.
“And we often call the Lord the Saviour, because He came to Earth to save all people.
“So, the soldiers, the soldiers of Russia, always, as if on the Lord’s orders, fulfil this very mission – the defence of the Fatherland, the salvation of the Motherland and its people.”
The Christmas service took place at a church on the grounds of the Senezh Special Purpose Centre – a GRU-linked special operations site.
The Russian tyrant appeared to give his blessing to his GRU dirty tricks operatives as European security services warn Russia is escalating covert activity across the continent.
Russian military intelligence service top brass Maj-Gen Aleksei Galkin, Col Andrey Popov and Col Konstantin Maslyanko, were also in attendance.
Galkin is the commander of military unit 92154, which was recently accused of organising an explosion on a railway in NATO state Poland.
A newer GRU structure — the “Department of Special Tasks” — has coordinated sabotage and assassination plotting in Europe, including an incendiary DHL parcel bombing scheme.
Putin followed up his sinister language with sanctioned overnight attacks on Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
Seven people – including two terror- struck girls aged eight and 16 – were injured in the strikes on residential buildings and schools.
More children were wounded in Russian Christmas strikes on Zaporizhzhia region.
Hospitals in Lviv were disconnected from electricity due to shortages after weeks of Russian missile and drone strikes at power plants.
Ukraine exploded an oil plant in a spectacular inferno at Stary Oskol in Belgorod border region.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: “As a result of the detonation, several tanks caught fire on the site.
“Firefighters are currently extinguishing the blaze.”