Johnson, who has used increasingly bombastic rhetoric when addressing Russia in recent days, was speaking at a Foreign Affairs Select Committee meeting in London.

He agreed with Ian Austin, a Member of Parliament from the opposition Labour Party, and said it was "completely right" that Putin wanted to use the showpiece football tournament to "gloss over [his] brutal corrupt regime".

"I think that your characterisation of what is going to happen in Moscow, the World Cup, in all the venues - yes, I think the comparison with [Berlin] 1936 is certainly right," Johnson said.

"It is an emetic prospect of Putin glorying in this sporting event."

The Kremlin hit back today, with Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov describing the comments as "disgusting".

"It is absolutely outrageous statement, it does not fit the Foreign Minister of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Sputnik news agency.

"It is undoubtedly offensive and unacceptable,"

Any comparison between Hitler and Putin is especially sensitive given how much of Russia's identity today is crafted around the 1941 to 1945 "Great Patriotic War" which led to the death of around 20 million people in the Soviet Union.

Hitler used the Berlin Olympics in 1936 as a propaganda tool to promote his regime and the idea of a superior Aryan race.

This attempt was undermined, though, by the four gold medals won by African-American track and field athlete Jesse Owens. 

Johnson did, however, say that he thought it would be unfair to bar the England team from competing from the World Cup. 

"On balance it would be wrong to punish them [the fans] or the team who have worked on this for an incredibly long time, given up their lives to it," he said.

It was confirmed last week that members of the British Royal Family and Government Ministers will not attend Russia 2018 after the host nation was blamed for the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter earlier this month.

The duo remain in a critical condition in hospital after being poisoned with the Russian-made nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury.

A total of 23 British diplomats have been expelled from Moscow in response to a similar expulsion by the British from London.

Johnson warned Britain must have an "urgent conversation" with Russia about how they "propose to fulfil their obligations under their FIFA contract to look after all fans".

There have so far been 24,000 application from England fans to attend the World Cup in Russia, scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 15 this year.

English and Russian fans clashed in ugly scenes in Marseille during the European Championships in France in 2016. 

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also claimed Johnson was "poisoned with venom of hate, unprofessionalism and boorishness".

She added: "It's scary to remember that this person represents the political leadership of a nuclear power."

Peskov also compared the British response to the poisoning incident to them blaming the United Kingdom Government if there was an accident in Moscow involving a Range Rover, an iconic British motor vehicle.