Russia has denounced Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's admission that Vladimir Putin will use this summer's World Cup like Adolf Hitler did in the 1936 Olympics as propaganda for his regime.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the comparison as an "utterly disgusting statement which is unworthy of a foreign minister of any country".

Peskov judged Johnson's words as "insulting and unacceptable".

It marks an escalation in the war of words exchanged between Moscow and London in the wake of the poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

Britain have accused Russia of using a military grade nerve agent which the Kremlin has fiercely denied.

Giving evidence at the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Boris Johnson agreed with Labour's Ian Austin who said the Russian president would use the occasion as a propaganda exercise, comparing it to the notorious pre-war Berlin Games.

Johnson described the idea of Putin "glorying in this sporting event" as "an emetic prospect" saying "I think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right."