"If something like this happens, Russia will give a tough response using more powerful weapons," warned a prominent Russian lawmaker.

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday that a nuclear war would ensue if they gave the green light for Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Vyacheslav Volodin claimed that the European Parliament calling for strikes inside Russia "leads to a world war using nuclear weapons".

A new resolution by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) calls for European Union countries to lift restrictions that prevent Ukraine from deploying Western weapons against military targets in Russia.

The agreement for Ukrainians to use Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation is still a topic of discussion among Kyiv's Western allies. Moscow is taking stringent measures to prevent this,