Russian TV Threatens West: 'Three Missiles Enough to End This Civilization'

A Kremlin propagandist issued a warning to the West on Sunday in response to a U.S. announcement that Washington will be deploying developmental hypersonic weapons in Europe.

Evgeny Popov, a host on the state TV Russia-1 program 60 Minutes, suggested strikes on multiple members of the NATO military alliance, including the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Ties between Washington and Moscow have become increasingly strained over Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian officials and guests on Russia's state TV have routinely called for strikes on U.S. soil over aid and weapons provided by the Biden administration to Kyiv.

He spoke after the U.S. and Germany said at a summit of the NATO military alliance in Washington, D.C., last week that the U.S. will, in 2026, deploy longer-range missiles in Germany.

"It's not hard to guess the geography of the response if the White House's short press release becomes reality," Popov said, showing a map of Europe on screen with the possible Russian targets, independent news outlet Agentstvo reported Monday.

"Almost all European capitals are under threat," Popov said, adding that Russia could strike U.S. military bases in Germany, as well as British ones.

"Special attention to Britain, our traditional enemy," the TV host said. "Britain is in the most vulnerable position. In principle, three missiles are enough to end this civilization."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The Kremlin warned against the deployment of U.S. missiles in Germany in remarks published on Saturday.

"We have enough capacity to contain these missiles, but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Pavel Zarubin, a journalist at the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK).

In a joint statement with Germany, the White House said the U.S. will begin "episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future."

"When fully developed, these conventional long-range fires units will include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons, which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe," the White House added.

The U.S. and Germany said exercising these "advanced capabilities" will "demonstrate the United States' commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence."

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