Prince William has been threatened by a senior Russian official in a statement posted online. Writing in the message, Dmitry Rogozin appeared to threaten drone strikes if the Prince of Wales "gets into our sights".

Rogozin, who currently heads a specialist military drone unit, wrote: "This is a great target for my drone pilots."

Alongside a picture of William during military exercises during his visit to Estonia last week, he added: "We haven’t yet zeroed out the heir to the throne, let alone the traditionally hostile Great Britain. Let him do some PR for now, but if he gets into our sights, we won’t stand on ceremony."

Dmitry - who is a former Putin deputy premier and ex-head of the Russian Space Agency - currently heads a specialist military drone unit while also acting as a Kremlin-appointed senator for part of Zaporizhzhia, an illegally invaded and annexed territory in Ukraine.

During his role alongside Putin and as ex-head of the Russian Space Agency, he tested of the 15,880mph Satan-2, aka Sarmat, the Kremlin’s largest hypersonic nuclear rocket, the size of a 14-storey tower block, weighing 208 tons.

Earlier this week, Dmitry appealed for new volunteers for his military unit - which appeared to dismiss hopes that the conflict occuring against Russia might soon end.

He said, "The whole war is still ahead. We need motivated and well-trained volunteers in the profile of our combat activities."

The latest threat from Dmitry was one of several from Valdimir Putin’s warmongers following Prince William’s tank ride. Posting to war Telegram channel Bati chitayut novosti, Aleksei Zhivov, a Russian military volunteer and political analyst, wrote: "He will be sorely missed in a real burning tank.

"Britain’s heir to the throne, Prince William, popped over to Estonia to take a spin in a tank near the Russian border. That’s a pretty blunt message from the Royal Family to Moscow. William also said he was there to show support for Estonia, which is ‘dangerously close to Russia’. Well then, I suggest the Royal Family help move Estonia somewhere safer—Wales or Ireland, maybe?

"And just a reminder—Britain’s not exactly far from Russia either. About 20 minutes by air, give or take [with a Putin missile]."