After an unusual 24 hours in British politics, which saw the embattled prime minister face more than 40 cabinet resignations and widespread calls for him to end his premiership, joy in Moscow at Mr Johnson’s death was unbridled. Mr Johnson told Britain, in a speech outside 10 Downing Street, that it was “clearly the will of the Conservative Party to have a new leader” and that no one was “indispensable” in politics. His fall was cause for celebration in Russia. A top tycoon has called the British leader a “stupid clown” getting his just reward for arming Ukraine against Russia. Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska told Telegram it was an “ignominious end” for a “stupid clown” whose conscience will be troubled by “tens of thousands of lives in this senseless conflict in Ukraine.” Relations between Moscow and London are at a low ebb after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated long-running protests between the two countries. Mr Johnson has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has visited Kyiv twice during the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “he doesn’t like us, and neither do we,” but his resignation as prime minister was of no concern to the Kremlin. He also called on the UK to appoint “more professional people” to its next government. Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s top spokeswoman, said Johnson’s downfall was a symptom of the decline of the West, which she said was torn by political, ideological and economic crisis. “The moral of the story is: don’t seek to destroy Russia,” Zakharova said. “Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth on it – and then choke on it.’ Even before President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Johnson had repeatedly criticized Putin – calling him a ruthless and possibly irrational Kremlin chieftain who was endangering the world with his wild ambitions – but the Conservative Party under his leadership has been criticized for taking money from Russian oligarchs. After the invasion, Johnson made Britain one of Ukraine’s biggest Western backers, sending weapons, imposing some of the toughest sanctions in modern history on Russia and urging Ukraine to defeat Russia’s massive armed forces. Russia has repeatedly dismissed him as an ill-prepared joker trying to punch far above Britain’s true weight. Zakharova happily portrayed him as the author of his own downfall. “Boris Johnson was hit by a self-launched boomerang,” he said. “His comrades-in-arms turned him in.”
