Vladimir Putin’s propagandist has urged Russia to assassinate two European leaders, including Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. Vladimir Solovyov took to his radio show Full Contact to call for the killing of European officials that he believes are “stealing” Russian assets.

He said of Mrs von der Leyen: “An old thieving with Ursula von der Leyen is trying to steal our assets. The very idea that a person, whose authority doesn’t even remotely include this, is making these decisions and all Europe says okay shows that we have a new Hitler.”

He went on to say: “Anyone in any way related to the structure of the EU to break any relations we have in place, to revise any laws that are in place, and to declare it a terrorist organisation.

“And based on this, persue them like we do terrorists. We should declare that Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas are terrorists. If we find them in the outhouse, we’ll whack them there.”

Solovyov is referring to a recently tabled EU plan is to raise nearly £80billion to help Ukraine by seizing Russian assets or borrowing against the already frozen ones. It marks the biggest financial proposal of the war so far.

Mrs von der Leyen said the money would cover two thirds of Ukraine‘s funding until 2027.

She said: “We are proposing to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs for the next two years. That’s €90 billion. Since pressure is the only language the Kremlin responds to, we can also dial it up.”

Currently, there is at least £180billion in state and private Russian assets frozen in bank and clearing houses in the EU, which will not be returned if the Commission gets its way.

The biggest proportion of this, roughly £160billion, is tied up in Euroclear in Belgium. However, the Belgian government said it does not support sending the money to Ukraine in case it becomes legally responsible for the entire amount.