A leading academic backing Vladimir Putin has called for the relentless bombing of Ukraine this winter so it "no longer exists as a nation".
Associate professor Andrei Sidorov, dean of the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, wants to trigger a new surge of war victims fleeing into the EU and Britain.
Further missile attacks aimed at civilian infrastructure, as Putin ordered this week, could lead to a new exodus from Ukraine - similar to that of the start of the war in February.
Dr Sidorov is suggesting using it as a weapon of war, tantamount to genocide.
He told state TV: “Why do we need hungry, cold, dirty, poor Europe? We can cut off all ties with them.
“What’s more, if we cut them off, we will put Europe on the brink of survival. The Americans won’t help them."
Dr Sidorov continued: “We should wait for the right moment, and cause a migration crisis for Europe with a new influx of Ukrainians."
He suggested doing so "after the new year, towards spring", saying it would exploit "economic and social tensions in Europe" due to rising energy prices.
He then urged Putin: “The situation we’re living through right now should be handled rationally. Not emotionally - and the rationale is Ukraine as a nation should not exist.
“We don’t need Europe. We can cut it off right now starting with the Baltic states."
The comments came as a Russian missile strike hit critical infrastructure in a city just 40 miles from NATO country Poland today.
Witnesses reported three explosions in the city shortly after noon local time (0900 GMT).
The blasts left 30 per cent of the town temporarily without electricity, according to the city's mayor Andriy Sadovyi who announced the news on Telegram.
He added that the water supply had also been disrupted in two of the city's districts.
Russia is staging a huge military response to the bombing of the Kerch Bridge on Saturday, when a truck bomb exploded taking with it a huge chunk of the 12-mile road and rail link between Russia and its annexed territory, Crimea.
The bombings began at around 8am yesterday, during the rush hour, as schoolchildren and other civilians dodged the raining missiles to find shelter.
This morning Ukraine's emergency services announced at least 19 people were killed and another 105 wounded during yesterday's assault.
Britain's top cyber spy said today that Britain would expect to see indicators if Russia was starting to consider deploying its nuclear arsenal in its war with Ukraine amid clears and claims the despot could press the button.
After more than seven months of war, Jeremy Fleming, director of the GCHQ spy agency, told BBC Radio that Russia was running short of munitions, friends and troops.
Putin has so far stayed within established military doctrine of not using nuclear weapons, Fleming said, but his agency would be looking out for signs that this could change.
