A panicked Russia contacted the United States over fears Ukraine was about to assassinate Vladimir Putin at a military parade last month, it has emerged.
Putin and defence minister Andrei Belousov had appeared at Russia's Navy Day parade in the country's second city, St Petersburg, on July 28 - but Moscow claims it unearthed a covert Ukrainian plot to eliminate both of them.
On Russian state TV, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said his country was so worried about the plot on Putin that Belousov himself got in touch with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss whether the US was involved.
In mid-July, the New York Times reported the same - that Austin had fielded a call from Belousov - and cited two unidentified US officials as saying that Pentagon bigwigs were surprised by the Russian allegation, and were unaware of any such plot.
Putin and defence minister Andrei Belousov (left) had appeared at Russia's Navy Day parade
Reuters
Belousov got in touch with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss whether the US was involved
Reuters
Ryabkov, speaking on Russian channel Rossiya-1, labelled the plot "madness" - and warned any US-backed attempt on Putin's life would have dire consequences.
The deputy foreign minister cautioned that killing Russia's 71-year-old premier would spark an "uncontrollable conflict", raising the spectre of an all-out nuclear Third World War.
He wasn't the only figure to speak out on the attempt and subsequent transatlantic phone calls on Russian television - propagandist Olga Skabeyeva alleged that Belousov rang Austin two weeks before Navy Day to have a "genuinely tough conversation" about the plot.
Skabeyeva said: "Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov called the Pentagon himself for the first time, and he said something that made US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin squirm.
MORE WW3 WARNINGS:
Any US-backed attempt on Putin's life would have dire consequences, Ryabkov warned
Reuters
"An assassination attempt, even if unsuccessful, would have provoked a very sharp response", Dimitry Kornev said
Reuters
"If Kyiv's operation had happened, it would have guaranteed to plunge Russia and the USA into a phase of uncontrollable conflict."
But despite denials from the Pentagon, Ryabkov alleged the US called off a Ukrainian attack - avoiding what he labelled an "escalation cycle".
His claim was backed by Reuters, which reported that Russian concerns were taken seriously enough for Washington to contact Ukraine and caution Kyiv that if it was planning such an operation then it should not carry it out.
He said: "We avoided a new escalation cycle. But that specific episode is very troubling.
Ryabkov alleged the US called off a Ukrainian attack
Reuters
"It was planned [by Ukraine]... to cause maximum damage and achieve the maximum media effect they needed.
"We got past that specific episode - thank God - which means that the signal from our military leadership and the defence minister to his American counterpart apparently had an effect."
Russian military expert Dmitry Kornev said: "An assassination attempt, even if unsuccessful, would have provoked a very sharp response."
Kornev said killing Putin would "burn all bridges to potential negotiations and normalising the conflict", and would "put an end to any aspirations for peace in this situation".
