Vladimir Putin’s state television has informed Russians that World War 3 has already begun, while a key on-screen propagandist has stated that the country is at war with NATO.

The ominous message came as it became evident that Moscow has lost another high-flying GRU military intelligence member in Ukraine, the latest setback to the Kremlin’s most elite espionage service.

Captain Alexey Bogomolov of the GRU’s 25th separate regiment (Stavropol) was killed in action during the battle, it was learned today.

Olga Skabeyeva, a leading propaganda broadcaster on the Rossiya 1 channel, informed viewers, “What has progressed into may safely be dubbed World War 3.” That is beyond a doubt.

“Right now, we’re fighting against NATO infrastructure, if not NATO itself.” That is something we must acknowledge.”

“In reality, a full-scale multi-level battle is happening with the collective West,” military pundit Dmitry Drozdenko said on separate state-run Channel 1.

“And the West has been preparing for war for a long time.”

Olesya Loseva, host of Vremya Pokazhet, informed viewers that the West was now providing “”thousands of weapons” to Ukraine.

She claimed that by carrying out the sanctions, Ukraine was doing the West’s job “More provocations, brutal, horrifying, and unfathomable.”

These will “cause people to tremble once more and proclaim that Russia is unworthy of even remaining on the international map, and that all Russians should just be wiped off the face of the planet.”

Ukrainians, according to Skabeyeva, were overjoyed to see Russian forces in their nation.

They blamed the Ukrainians for “genocide,” she asserted, rather than the Russians.

“For some reason, regular Ukrainians aren’t detecting any genocide,” she explained.

“Our forces are being welcomed as true liberators in the Kharkiv region.” People are carrying Russian tricolours into the streets, where we have our military equipment.

“The residents of Kharkiv accuse the Ukrainian armed forces of genocide, not the Russian army.”

However, the death of GRU agent Bogomolov, whose funeral will be place tomorrow in the Tambov area, underlines the crushing blows dealt to the elite espionage organisation.

It comes after the death of Captain Alexey Glushchak, a 31-year-old GRU spy, in mid-March. Senior Lieutenant Anton Volkov of the Vladimir area was also killed.

Captain Konstantin Druzhkov, 33, was murdered in another incident last month.

He perished with Islam Abduragimov, 19, and Shamil Aselderov, both GRU agents.