Vladimir Putin threatened he could kill me with a rocket attack, Boris Johnson reveals in a hard-hitting new BBC series

VLADIMIR Putin made a chilling threat to Boris Johnson that he could kill him in a rocket attack, the former prime minister reveals today.

Mad Vlad’s threatening call came a day after Boris visited Kyiv last February amid fears of a Russian invasion.

4

4

Mr Johnson makes the shock claim in a BBC series beginning tonight.

Mr Johnson attempted to use his 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.

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

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

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.”

Putin backfires

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”.

And 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 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 how, 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 relates how the Russians kept saying 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.

4

4

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 also given permission for a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to be sent 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.