PUTIN DEATH SQUADS WILL STRIKE AGAIN

»Top target claims 12» Navalny death has critics in UK on hit-list emboldened despot'

- CHRIS HUGHES

AT least 12 Brits and Russians in the UK are on Vladimir Putin's death list as he plots to wipe out more critics, his top target here has warned.

And activist Bill Browder told how he fears the Kremlin despot will launch a murderous spree on our shores after his arch opponent Alexei Navalny died in suspicious circumstances in jail last week.

The multi-millionaire financier warned Putin must be stopped to avoid repeats of the 2018 Novichok attack in Salisbury that targeted former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

That failed, but it left innocent local woman Dawn Sturgess, 44, dead after hitmen Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov fled the UK.

Mr Browder claims his friend Navalny's suspected poisoning has emboldened Putin, who may even target politicians here.

The human rights campaigner became the dictator's number one enemy after fighting against corruption in Russia. He said yesterday: "The murder of Alexei is a game changer for Putin.

"The fact he would kill the most popular and prominent opposition politician in plain sight without fear of repercussion says that people who are opposing Putin in Russia and abroad are in much more serious risk of assassination.

"The killing of Alexei Navalny has shown Putin has lost all restraint and that he will embark on a major international killing spree which will include against all his enemies in the UK. I believe there are at least a dozen people here at risk and they will focus on high-profile ones. Politicians are at risk.