Russia State TV Guest Issues Ominous Warning: 'Berlin, Paris Will Be Ours'

A Russian State TV guest suggested that, following Ukraine, the country could make moves to dominate the rest of Europe.

Guest pundit and China expert Nikolai Vavilov spoke on Olga Skabeyeva's 60 Minutes show on Monday when he issued his warning to the continent.

Vavilov stated that in the past Russia has had a presence across Europe, most notably France and Germany, and in the future, this would happen again. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.

This claim from the pundit came on the same day that The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that more than 250,000 Russians have been killed since the conflict started in February 2022.

The actual figures may vary, however, as Ukraine's figures regarding losses of Russian forces have differed considerably compared to that of the Kremlin, which rarely makes public its losses in battle.

Vavilov's comments have since gone viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, and have been shared by Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The clip has so far been viewed more than 900,000 times.

"We will increasingly acquire the role that the Russian Empire had. I didnt joke in the last programme that Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Ljubljana, everything will be ours," Vavilov said, according to the translation by Gerashchenko.

"Why? That's the way it was. You see, when we entered Paris in 1815, Berlin in 1941 at the end of the 18th century- this is not an accident.

"Russia is the greatest country in Europe, a huge power."

Host Skabeyeva questioned why Russia left these nations each time and why they are so "irresponsible" about their victories.

Despite the claims by the pundit, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has not been faultless. Most recently Putin's forces have struggled against Kyiv's counteroffensive. Throughout the conflict, Russia has received criticism from analysts due to its inability to achieve significant success on the ground.

Last week, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD) evaluated the ongoing counteroffensive.

The Russian army in southern Ukraine is "highly likely struggling with battle fatigue and attrition in forward deployed regiments which have been in intense combat for over eight weeks," the MOD said in a post on X on August 1.

The update also stated that Russian forces in the south will be facing supply issues.

"Across the south, common problems for Russian commanders are highly likely to include shortage of artillery ammunition, a lack of reserves and problems securing the flanks of units in the defense," the MoD said in their statement.