A staunchly pro-Putin propaganda television channel has simulated a devastating nuclear attack on London that killed 850,000 people and injured two million.
The release of the four-minute video with an English-language commentary appears to be the latest move in a concerted campaign to scare Britain into giving Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia.
Vladimir Putin’s propagandists and entourage have repeatedly warned that he could use nuclear weapons.
The video shown on Tsargrad’s Telegram channel begins with a threat: ‘Let’s imagine for a moment that the unimaginable happens.
‘A nuclear weapon explodes over London. In this documentary, we explore the devastating consequences of this catastrophe.
“In the simulation we will use a warhead with a yield of 750 kilotons. It is a fairly powerful payload.”
The commentary warns viewers: “Upon detonation, a fireball as hot as the sun expands rapidly, reaching a radius of 950 meters.”
The simulation of a nuclear attack was broadcast on a staunchly pro-Putin propaganda television channel.
Putin’s propagandists and entourage have repeatedly warned that he could use nuclear weapons.
The commentary warns viewers: ‘Upon detonation, a fireball as hot as the sun expands rapidly, reaching a radius of 950 metres (1,039 yards).
‘Anything caught inside this fireball is instantly vaporized.
‘In our simulation, the epicentre of the explosion is in Westminster.
‘People within that radius will not even feel anything because the speed of nerve impulse transmission is slower.
‘Within a 5km (3 mile) radius of the epicentre, the blast radius of the City of London, Camden Town, Kensington and Brixton will receive the most destruction.’
An indicator on the screen indicates the number of possible kills.
‘Buildings will be destroyed and debris will litter the streets, creating extremely dangerous conditions for everyone in the surrounding area.
‘Given the population density in central London, the initial death toll could exceed 250,000 people and around 600,000 injured within a 10km (6.25 mile) radius. Radiation will cause third-degree burns.
‘Within that radius, anything that can burn, will catch fire.
An indicator on the screen indicates the number of possible kills.
Disturbing simulation shows massive destruction in London in case of strike
‘(Service) stations, cars, electrical substations, gas infrastructure.
‘The explosive devices will explode and amplify the effect of the devastation over a huge area, including areas from Camden to Greenwich and from Islington to Wandsworth.’
The video claims that “according to various estimates, another 450,000 people will die from burns, debris, injuries or radiation sickness, and more than one million will suffer trauma.”
Many of these injuries could prove fatal in the coming days and weeks.
‘Radiation sickness, in particular, will claim lives days and weeks later.
‘Over time, around 100,000 more will be added to the death toll.’
The video was originally posted about three months ago, but has now been highlighted by Tsargrad.
It continues: ‘Within a radius of 18 kilometres (11 miles) around the explosion, the shock wave will be sufficient to shatter windows, causing additional casualties to people who are near the windows when they see the nuclear explosion.
‘The shockwave will reach Hounslow, Edgware and Enfield.
‘Depending on the wind, the consequences could extend far beyond the immediate blast zone, potentially affecting areas up to five to ten kilometres away, causing damage as far away as Essex and Surrey.
‘Estimated casualties if a 750 kiloton nuclear bomb were to explode in London would be around 850,000 people dead and around 2 million injured.
‘If the explosion occurred on land rather than in the air, the radiation map would be greatly expanded and radioactive fallout could even reach Manchester, infecting people, soil and animals.
‘The problem with a nuclear explosion in London is also that the city is not essentially designed to survive such a disaster.
The video claims that “according to various estimates, another 450,000 people will die from burns, debris, injuries or radiation sickness, and more than one million will suffer trauma.”
‘Eleven of London’s twenty hospitals would be caught in the blast.
‘The remaining hospitals would not be able to physically cope with the number of victims.
Many people are still alive under the rubble of the buildings, suffering from burns, but no one can help them.
‘Since the creation of nuclear weapons less than a hundred years ago, there have been more than 20 incidents in which a nuclear-armed country came within a whisker of a nuclear catastrophe…
«Nuclear weapons are a real threat to our future…»
In its report, the channel recalled how Putin said in 2018 that in the event of a nuclear war: “We will go to heaven as martyrs, and they (in the West) will simply die, because they will not even have time to repent.”
Tsargrad said: ‘The president then warned the West that Russia has its own interests and will defend them by all possible and impossible means.
‘A simulator of a 750 kiloton nuclear attack on London was published today.
‘At the bottom of the screen is an increasing number of deaths as the attack progresses.’
Other hardline Russian media outlets also showed the video.
Tsargrad is controlled by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, 50, an investment banker and media mogul known as the “Orthodox oligarch” because of his ties to the Russian church.
This is not the first time Russian propagandists have explored the idea that Britain would be devastated by a nuclear attack.
Earlier this month, Putin’s media minions called for Britain to sink under a radioactive tsunami using its Poseidon “superweapon”.
Hardline Russian MP Andrei Gurulev jeered “swim, swim, swim” as he demanded the use of Moscow’s unique Poseidon high-speed underwater atomic drone against Britain.
The Kremlin’s propaganda TV channel Rossiya-1 demanded a “critical threat” from Putin to prevent Britain, the United States and other Western countries from giving Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles for attacks on Russian territory.
“Of course, there is a more radical option,” said Lieutenant General Gurulev, a former tank commander and military strategist. “The British people are there, they also want to live a good and happy life at our expense, don’t they?”
Russia’s Channel 1 shows a computer-generated model of Britain being “wiped off the map” by the Poseidon missile
The Belgorod submarine is designed to carry Moscow’s superweapon: nuclear-powered drones called Poseidon, which Russia claims are capable of causing nuclear tsunamis.
“But if there is no Great Britain, there is no problem.”
Poseidon, which has not been used so far, is a nuclear-powered underwater drone with an “unlimited range.” Putin considers it part of his new nuclear arsenal and classifies it as a “superweapon.”
It is designed to carry strategic nuclear warheads of up to 100 megatons and could cause catastrophic destruction. It could also be deployed with lesser firepower as a tactical weapon.
Some reports indicate that its underwater speed is up to 115 mph, with the ability to operate at depths less than 3,000 feet. It is scheduled to be ready soon, but details of the tests remain confidential.
The weapon could be launched from Russian submarines such as the Belgorod.
It is considered a weapon without parallel in the world, a hybrid between a nuclear missile and a submarine.