It is “inevitable” that Russia will hit Britain with missiles that will “wipe it off the earth”, according to a Russian television commentator.

The absurd claims were made by Andrey Gurulev, a reservist general who serves as a hardline pro-Putin MP, in response to a question about Ukraine’s use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Sensitive targets in Russia have been targetted in recent days by Ukraine‘s drones as Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces attempt to cripple infrastructure crucial to Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

Gurulev told Russian state TV: “There’s still going to come a point where we’re going to strike. It is inevitable.

“The question is simply a matter of time and decision-making, there is no other way.”

Ukraine was given permission to fire the British missiles inside of Russia in an offensive capacity late last year, having previously only been able to use them in a defensive role.

The change in stance saw Russia change its nuclear doctrine, intimating that the use of British, American or French missiles would constitute a direct attack on Russia and thus place them in scope for a nuclear response.

Since then, Ukraine has used the missiles sparingly, their hefty £760,000 price tag and limited supply meaning that Ukrainian leaders attempt to use them where they are able to have maximum effect.

Gurulev added: “If today Britain is hitting our territory with its missiles from Ukraine, everyone realises that they will not fly anywhere without NATO control systems and satellite navigation.

“I believe that this is a direct reason for Britain to simply not be on Earth. And I’m not the only one who thinks that, we’re not the only ones who think that.”

Gurulev is a regular on state TV and often makes bold claims about how Russia should respond to intervention by Nato countries in the Ukrainian war.

Russia is in the midst of concerted Ukrainian attacks on key infrastructure such as ammunition factories and oil refineries with explosions and large fires being seen in several cities across the country.

The series of attacks have seen at least 146 drones as well as UK Storm Shadow and US Atacms missiles launched as far as 700 miles into Russia.

Russia’s defence ministry was coy on which sites had been hit but claimed to have shot down all of the Western missiles fired by Ukraine at the Bryansk region, as well as 146 drones outside the war zone. It said two more Storm Shadows had been shot down over the Black Sea.

The defence ministry said in response: “The actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by its Western curators, will not go unanswered.”