The Kremlin has warned Russians not to travel to the West – particularly the US.

A spokesperson for Vladimir Putin’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, claimed America could “hunt” down any Russian civilians.

She told the media: “We urge you to continue to refrain from trips to the United States of America and its allied satellite states, including, first of all, Canada and, with a few exceptions, European Union countries, during these [Christmas] holidays.”

She added that the warning was in “in the context of the increasing confrontation in Russian-American relations”, as the US is currently the largest supporter of Ukraine in its war against Moscow.

Zakharova claimed the Russia-US relationship is “teetering on the verge of rupture due to the fault of Washington”, meaning “trips to the United States of America privately or out of official necessity are fraught with serious risks.”

Zakharova added, without evidence: “Our citizens have become the subject of hunting by American authorities and US special services.”

Both Russia and the US claim some of their own citizens have been wrongfully imprisoned by the other side.

Diplomats also say bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington are worse than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the possibility of nuclear war loomed over both countries.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has warned Putin could look to hit Ukraine yet again with its new ballistic missile in the “coming days”.

Putin first launched the new weapon – which can be fitted with a nuclear warhead – last month and lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.

His escalation came after the US (and the UK) gave Ukraine authority to use their long-range missiles against targets within Russia.

It’s one of the last acts from the outgoing Biden administration, which is stepping up support for Ukraine in anticipation of president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The Republican wants to end the war as soon as possible but has not explained how he intends to do so, sparking fears he will force Ukraine to cede occupied territory to Russia just to bring the conflict to a close.

Meanwhile, Putin has been accelerating his offences in Ukraine – triggering up to 2,000 Russian casualties a day – in a bid to secure as much land as possible before Trump’s second term starts. It currently occupies 20% of Ukraine.

But the Kremlin still blames US President Joe Biden is ramping up the tensions.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “It is obvious that the current administration will follow this path and will try to leave this legacy.

“How and in what way – we will see together.”