Russia rejoices over Boris Johnson’s downfall: the ‘silly clown’ has gone

Russian politicians lined as much as have a good time the downfall of Boris Johnson on Thursday, casting the British chief as a “stupid clown” who had lastly bought his simply reward for arming Ukraine in opposition to Russia.

Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit marketing campaign who received a powerful electoral victory in 2019 earlier than main the United Kingdom out of the European Union, introduced he was quitting on Thursday after he was deserted by ministers and most of his Conservative lawmakers over a collection of scandals.

The Kremlin mentioned it did not like Johnson both.

“He doesn’t like us, we don’t like him either,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned shortly earlier than Johnson stood in Downing Street to announce his resignation.

In his speech saying he was stepping down as Conservative Party chief however deliberate to remain on as prime minister till a substitute was picked, Johnson addressed the individuals of Ukraine, pledging that Britain would “continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes”.

Russians had been brutal of their evaluation of Johnson, who only in the near past was telling colleagues that he wished to remain in energy longer than Margaret Thatcher – a gradual foe of the previous Soviet Union who served as British prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska mentioned on Telegram that it was an “inglorious end” for a “stupid clown” whose conscience could be blighted by “tens of thousands of lives in this senseless conflict in Ukraine”.

“The clown is going,” mentioned Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s decrease home of parliament. “He is one of the main ideologues of the war against Russia until the last Ukrainian. European leaders should think about where such a policy leads.”

Even earlier than President Vladimir Putin ordered the Feb. 24 invasion, Johnson had repeatedly criticised Putin – casting him as a ruthless and probably irrational Kremlin chief who was imperiling the world along with his loopy ambitions.

After the invasion, Johnson made Britain one of many largest Western supporters of Ukraine, sending weapons, slapping a few of the most extreme sanctions in fashionable historical past on Russia and urging Ukraine to defeat Russia’s huge armed forces. He has twice traveled to Kyiv to satisfy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Maria Zakharova, the highest spokeswoman in Russia’s international ministry, mentioned Johnson’s fall was a symptom of the decline of the West, which she mentioned was riven by political, ideological and financial disaster.

“The moral of the story is: do not seek to destroy Russia,” Zakharova mentioned. “Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it – and then choke on them.”

Johnson’s help of Ukraine has been so staunch that he has been affectionately referred to as “Borys Johnsoniuk” by some in Kyiv. He typically ended his speeches with “Slava Ukraini” – or “glory to Ukraine”.

Johnson even spoke stilted Russian in February, telling the Russian people who he didn’t consider the “needless and bloody” warfare was of their identify.

Russia repeatedly dismissed him as a poorly ready jester attempting to punch far past Britain’s true weight.

Zakharova gleefully portrayed Johnson because the creator of his personal downfall.

“Boris Johnson was hit by a boomerang launched by himself,” she mentioned. “His comrades-in-arms turned him in.”

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