Moscow based editor in chief of RT has resigned over Putin's bloody invasion of Ukraine and branded his government 'totalitarian'.

Maria Baronova joined the Kremlin backed media outlet in 2019, but decided to cut ties last week after only three years, saying he is turning Russia into an 'endless hell'.

Two days after Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine she posted on her Telegram: 'Our grandads didn't fight for this,' referencing World War Two. 'And now they've been betrayed' 

But she's not leaving Moscow, despite becoming known as an outspoken critic of the Kremlin. 

'I have a son, I can't leave because his father won't allow me to leave with him, and so I just prefer to stay in Moscow… It seems like we're either in North Korea or we are going to be killed by a thermonuclear mushroom,' said Baronova in an interview with Fox News. 

'I wouldn't quit, and I wouldn't lose my salary and job if I was sure that we are going to be alive for many years, but I really don't know what is going to happen to all of us next.'

She said Russia and the West were on the brink of a nuclear war.

But it's not Putin who she fears could strike first - she thinks his actions are making him a target.

'I suspect the Western world will use [nuclear weapons],' Baronova said while preparing her son's meal, on the phone to Fox. 'This is a very dangerous situation.'

Starting her education as a chemist, Baronova wasn't a typical editor. 

Her mother was a theoretical physicist turned actuary, a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty.

Earlier in her career, she sold medical equipment, but had to quit to focus on her son's learning difficulties, according to The New Yorker. 

Baronova didn't begin her career working for state media. She was an outspoken critic of Putin for years, forming part of the anti-government protests of 2011-2013.