THE KREMLIN today ramped up the war of words on Britain - branding the Defence Secretary a "market wench".

Russian officials hit back at Gavin Williamson after he told the country's regime to "go away and shut up".

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They suggested the minister is too uneducated to come up with a more creative retort.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry official, blasted Mr Williamson in the wake of the row over the attempted hit on Sergei Skripal.

In a furious rant this morning, he said: “The market wench talk that British Defence secretary Gavin Williamson resorted to reflects his extreme intellectual impotency.

“It proves the deficiency of London’s accusations thrown at Russia in the past but also the inadequacy of the accusers.”

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Russia had "long become immune to London accusing us of all sins," he added.

“As for the boorish remarks by the British Defence Secretary on Russia, they seem to be the only thing that Her Majesty’s armed forces have in ample supply”.

Britain has become “a comfortable nest not only for defectors from the whole world - but also for numerous offices in charge of making fake sensations”, he continued.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov joked: "He's a handsome young man. He probably also wants to be written down in history with strong claims. I don't know, maybe he's just not educated enough."

Russian senator Franz Klintsevich raged: “The expressions chosen by Gavin Williamson are unprecedented for a minister of a major country.

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“It is a proof of his total non-professionalism. It is a disgrace for Great Britain."

He said the senior minister “can’t get rid of old habits acquired in puberty when he partied with his young mates and sorted things out with them with the help of abusive words".

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Mr Williamson said yesterday: “It is absolutely atrocious and outrageous what Russia did in Salisbury. Frankly Russia should go away and should shut up."

Mr Lavrov today repeated his threat to expel British diplomats from Moscow in revenge for Theresa May's spy crackdown.

And the country's ambassador accused the UK of ramping up the row over Mr Skripal's poisoning in order to distract from Brexit.