Sky News presenter Mark Austin asked Mr Markov how can he support the invasion on Ukraine. He said: “It is an independent country and Vladimir Putin said it was to be a liberation, it is no such thing. It is a brutal invasion on an independent country, it is a breach of international law and it is quite possibly a war crime.

“How can you still support what is happening in this country?”

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Markov said: “You are repeating different propaganda assessments.

“Liberation from a neo-Nazi group which is very well known and imposed terror, we very much regret the 2,000 people who have been killed after the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine and the liberation of those countries from neo-Nazis.

“But we are also very much sorry for the dozens of thousands of Ukrainians citizens who have been killed by the criminal Ukrainian regime.”

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Mr Austin hit back: “But there is no evidence of a ‘genocide’ as Vladimir Putin has called it.

“There is no evidence that Ukraine is a threat to Russia. Where is the justification for this war?”

It comes as leaders of US spy agencies said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may intensify the assault on Ukraine despite military setbacks and economic hardships resulting from international sanctions, setting up “an ugly next few weeks.”

“Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the annual House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, where she testified with other intelligence agency directors.

“I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said.

Burns said he and CIA analysts do not see how Putin can accomplish his goal of taking Kyiv and replacing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government with a pro-Moscow or puppet leadership.

“I fail to see how he can produce that kind of an end game and where that leads, I think, is for an ugly next few weeks in which he doubles down … with scant regard for civilian casualties,” Burns told the committee.

Burns also said China’s leaders are “unsettled” by events surrounding the assault on Ukraine, despite refusing to condemn Russia or call the attack an invasion.