Russia responds with veiled nuclear, death threats to UK nerve agent attack

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• Russia responded with veiled nuclear and death threats to former spies in the UK after British Prime Minister Theresa May accused Moscow of involvement in a nerve agent attack on UK soil.
• A Russian foreign ministry spokesman warned the UK not to threaten nuclear powers, and a Russian TV broadcaster threatened that former spies, like the one killed in the UK, don't live long.

British Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of carrying out a nerve agent attack on UK soil against a former spy - and Moscow's response has been extremely aggressive, with veiled nuclear and death threats.

After blowing a UK-imposed deadline to answer for the attack, which UK experts assess used a Russian-made chemical weapon, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman warned the UK not to threaten nuclear powers.

The UK also possesses nuclear weapons, but Russia has more firepower and newer nuclear systems than any other nation, and has frequently taken to threatening its neighbors and bragging about its capability to end life on Earth.

Additionally, Russian state TV broadcaster Kirill Kleimenov went on Russia's popular Channel One to make veiled threats and insinuations that politically motivated murders in Britain would continue.

"The profession of a traitor is one of the most dangerous in the world," Kleimenov said. "It's very rare that those who had chosen it have lived in peace until a ripe old age."

Outside of military threats, Russia has said it would respond in kind if the UK moves to expel Russian diplomats or scraps the media license for RT, a Russian-funded media organization.

"Not a single British media outlet will work in our country if they shut down Russia Today," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response. International news outlets in Russia already operate under heavy scrutiny and cannot spread their news freely to the Russian people.

If Britain chooses to acknowledge the attack as having been carried out by Russia on its own soil, it can invoke Article 5 within NATO and trigger a response, possibly war, from the 29-member alliance.

But Russia stands accused of killing 15 former spies on UK soil, and experts tell Business Insider it's unlikely the UK will go to war over the nerve agent attack.