The Kremlin breaks the silence in a bizarre response after Boris Johnson revealed Putin threatened to kill him in a rocket attack

The Kremlin today branded Boris Johnson a “liar” after Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him with a rocket.

Boris said Mad Vlad warned in a threatening phone call last February that it would be “only a minute” before a missile knocked him out.

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The ex-PM told a BBC documentary that the call came after he visited Kyiv to show his support amid fears of a Russian invasion.

Boris recalls: “He threatened me at one point and said: ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a rocket it would only take a minute’ or something like that.”

Today, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, hit back: “It’s not true what Mr Johnson said.

“Actually, it’s a lie.

“Moreover, this is either a deliberate lie and then we have to ask Mr Johnson what purpose he had in choosing to tell the story in this way.

“Or it was an unconscious lie and in fact he didn’t understand what President Putin was talking to him about.

“In that case, you feel a little uncomfortable for the people that our president is talking to.”

Peskov added: “I am aware of the content of this chat.

“And once again I officially repeat – that is a lie.

“There was no missile threat.”

He claimed that Putin had raised the possibility of Nato missiles being stationed near the Russian border, which would mean they could reach Moscow in minutes.

“If this passage was interpreted in this way, then this is indeed a very awkward situation,” Peskov said.

Mr Johnson details the threatening phone call in the three-part series Putin vs. the West on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer tonight from 9pm.

He says he tried to use his Kyiv trip to warn the Kremlin that an attack would be disastrous.

The paranoid Putin feared NATO encroaching on his borders.

Moscow was told there would be tough sanctions if Putin invaded and “more nato, not less” in the region – prompting Mad Vlad’s threat.

Boris recalls: “I pissed off Putin again. He said: “Boris, you say that Ukraine will not join NATO any time soon. What is “soon”?.

“And I said, ‘Well, it’s not going to join NATO anytime soon. You know that very well.

“He threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a rocket it would only take a minute’ or something like that.

“I think because of the very relaxed tone he was using, the kind of distance he seemed to have, he was just toying with my attempts to get him to negotiate.

“And this is a very long call and a most extraordinary call. He was very, very familiar.

“I said to him, ‘Look, if you do that, it’s going to be a total disaster. It will mean a massive package of western sanctions. This means that we continue to step up our support for Ukraine.”

Putin backfires

General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said Putin’s threats were hollow because he didn’t have enough missiles left.

He said: “Most likely, Mr. Putin indulged in some degree of malicious frivolity.

“He’s going to need all the missiles he can get to delay Ukraine throwing Russia out of their country.”

And last night, former Defense Minister Mark Francois said: “The very notion that the Russian President could have personally threatened the life of a British Prime Minister is extraordinary.”

Mr Francois said Putin’s aggression clearly backfired “when Boris quickly rallied Europeans against the Russian invasion and has been one of Zelenskyy’s staunchest supporters ever since”.

Ex-army officer Colonel Richard Kemp said: “Putin has always tried to intimidate or embarrass foreign leaders by making personal remarks and saying things that you wouldn’t expect in normal international diplomacy, be it face to face or on the phone.

“It’s his way of testing them, throwing them off balance and gaining the upper hand.”

Former Defense Secretary John Spellar said: “This shows the true nature of Putin’s barbaric regime. It shows that we must be constantly vigilant towards the Russian state.”

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace tells the documentary that after threatening Boris, he was sent to Moscow in a last-ditch effort to avoid war.

Before the meeting, the translator was barred from helping the UK delegation due to a positive Covid test – despite receiving a negative reading on the plane.

Mr Wallace says the Russians have said time and time again that the Ukrainians will “not fight” but “welcome them to the country”.

He says: “I remember saying to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: ‘They will fight’ and he said: ‘My mother is Ukrainian, they won’t!’

“He also said he had no intention of intruding. That would be ‘Vran’e’ in the Russian language.

“Vran’e I think is a kind of bullying or showing of strength: I’m going to lie to you. you know i lie I know you know I’m lying and I still will lie to you.

“He knew I knew and I knew he knew.

“But I think it was about saying: I am powerful. It was the rather frightening but direct lie about what they wouldn’t do that I think confirmed that they would.

Within three weeks, on February 24, Putin gave the go-ahead for his invasion.

The UK pledged £2.3 billion to Ukraine last year and intends to match next year.

Ministers have also provided anti-tank missiles and air defense systems, as well as three long-range M270 multiple-launch missile systems.

Mr Johnson was ousted from No 10 in September.

Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has agreed to send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine to help thwart an expected spring offensive by Russia.

The US and Germany recently pledged M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks to significantly increase Western support to counter Vlad’s forces.

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