Safest areas in UK if WW3 broke out as Putin mouthpiece warns 'nuke strike is inevitable' - The Mirror

Russia has drawn two 'red lines' that, if crossed, would see Putin launch attacks on the UK and Europe. As tensions escalate, we map out the safest areas in the UK if a strike did hit

Britain could be facing the "greatest military threat of a generation" as tensions escalate amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict, with President Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejecting any prospect of ceding territory to Russia.

A peace framework put forward by Washington and Moscow proposed that vast areas of the nation be given up to Putin, while potentially imposing restrictions on Ukraine's armed forces.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov branded the UK and EU as "openly destructive" in peace talks, while praising President Trump's diplomatic efforts. Lavrov also recently warned that whilst Russia harbours no ambition to wage war against Europe, there are two critical "red lines" that, if breached, would trigger his nation to launch an assault.

"As the President [Putin] emphasised, we have no intention of going to war with Europe," the Foreign Minister stated, "We have no such intention. But we will respond to any hostile steps, including the deployment of European military contingents in Ukraine and the expropriation of Russian assets."

Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek Group plc, previously told the Mirror that the most at-risk areas of attacks are major cities.

These 19 locations, listed by property portal EMoov back in 2017, are situated outside of the immediate range of blasts in major British cities:

• Cornwall
• Weymouth
• Folkestone
• Dover
• Margate
• Clacton-on-Sea
• Felixstowe
• Brixworth
• Bideford
• Aberystwyth
• Skegness
• Isle of Anglesey
• Barrow in Furness
• Lancaster
• Whitby
• Carlisle
• Dumfries
• Berwick-upon-Tweed
• Inverness

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's remarks this week came after Russian state television issued a nuclear threat following the news that a British paratrooper had died in Ukraine.

Putin's propagandists declared that British military presence in Ukraine constitutes a "casus belli" for a nuclear assault on the UK. Leading Russian news presenter and Putin crony Vladimir Solovyov warned viewers during his evening programme: "Now a nuclear strike on Britain is inevitable."

International relations specialists have weighed in on the comments, with one telling the Mirror that these boundaries being set were merely "blunt threats" to Ukraine's allies in Europe, "to let Russia defeat Ukraine, or else."

Professor Anthony Glees from the University of Buckingham told the Mirror: "Neither of these red lines ought in theory to be accepted by Ukraine's European allies, but we must fear today, after Trump's Politico Interview and after the publication of the USA's National Security Strategy, that both probably will."

President Trump recently slammed Europe during his chat with Politico, branding it a "decaying" continent packed with "weak" nations. He said, "Well it depends," when quizzed about whether America intends to stay allied with particular European nations, and in the NSS document, Washington outlined a notably distant stance towards Europe.

Professor Glees clarified that this would render any military deployment in Ukraine from Britain and Europe as "very, very, vulnerable".

"Why both matter is that without NATO military structures in Ukraine, any forces sent by the Coalition of the Willing led by the E3 will be very, very vulnerable. Given our present military weaknesses, I do not, alas, believe that the UK, Germany or France can guarantee they will actually provide boots on the ground to protect Ukraine," the expert said. Meanwhile, Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek, warned that whilst Britain isn't currently planning to deploy troops to Ukraine, "military contact may become unavoidable".