VLADIMIR Putin has revealed the latest intercontinental ballistic missile in his nuclear arsenal dubbed "The Sceptre" that can be launched from hidden submarines.
The menacing 40ft rocket has an estimated 5,160-mile range and can carry up to 10 individually guided nuclear warheads - all designed to attack multiple targets.
A chilling new video released by the Russian military shows the missile, called Bulava in Russian, in action for the first time during Putin's latest testing drills.
The clip shows a huge blast erupting from underneath the water's surface as a roaring missile bursts out, leaving thick plumes of smoke in its wake.
It moves at an incredible speed through the sky before disappearing into the clouds.
These drills have previously been seen as a strict warning to the West and Nato to tread carefully in the coming weeks as an all out war looms.
more on Vlad's nuke threats
The RSM-56 Bulava is being viewed by the Kremlin as a crucial piece of weaponry in Russia's land, sea and air nuclear trio of destruction.
Navy officials in the Northern and Pacific Fleets have been seen deploying seven Borei-class submarines in the drills thought to be carrying the warheads.
Sixteen Bulava missiles were reportedly being held by the subs in the trials with several of them being launched in the footage.
Each one is thought to have a whopping launch mass of 37 tonnes.
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The first signs of Russian success with the Bulava missiles came last November as the defence ministry said a submarine had successfully test-launched the weapons.
They claimed it had been fired from an underwater position in the White Sea off northern Russia.
Hitting a target thousands of miles away on the Kamchatka peninsula.
The missile has been developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology with work first starting on them in the 1990s.
Just weeks ago, Putin ordered tactical nuclear weapons testing as Russia directly warned the West to back-off.
The Kremlin told Western officials if they continue to support Ukraine then a "worldwide catastrophe" will break out at the hands of Russian nukes.
It comes as a former US ambassador told The Sun Putin is deadly serious about "confronting the West" - and the use of nuclear weapons should not be ruled out.
Frank G. Wisner, who served under President Bill Clinton, lashed out at Vlad and described the Russian tyrant as "extraordinarily reckless".
Recently the grieving widow of Alexei Navalny, Putin's number one foe, claimed "unpredictable" Putin was ready to use nuclear weapons.
She warned that the power-hungry President wanted to keep the world living in fear and "nobody knows what Putin is going to do next".
Military experts also warned that the Russian tyrant would "sacrifice everything", and could even launch a nuclear weapon into orbit if he felt his iron grip was slipping.
But if things swing in Ukraine's favour, it's feared erratic Vlad could hit the nuclear button and spark the beginning of WW3.
Talk of a nuclear war has increased in recent weeks after Nato and Russia both started to move their nuclear arsenals across Europe.
Poland announced it would be ready to host nuclear weapons on their Nato border with Russia.
Putin's nuclear threats
BELOW is a timeline of some of the thinly veiled, and more cutthroat threats Vladimir Putin has made against the West with his nuclear arsenal since invading Ukraine two years ago.
FEBRUARY 24, 2022 - Vladimir Putin: “No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history."
MARCH 26, 2022 - Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: “We have a special document on nuclear deterrence. This document clearly indicates the grounds on which the Russian Federation is entitled to use nuclear weapons. … [This includes] when an act of aggression is committed against Russia and its allies."
APRIL 20, 2022 - Vladimir Putin: “[The new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads] will force all who are trying to threaten our country in the heat of frenzied, aggressive rhetoric to think twice."
FEBRUARY 18, 2024: Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: "Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing. Towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state."
FEBRUARY 29, 2024 - Vladimir Putin: “They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory... All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?”
MARCH 13, 2024 - Vladimir Putin: "From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready. ... Weapons exist in order to use them. We have our own principles."
MAY 10, 2024 - Putin appoints 'Professor Doomsday' Sergei Karaganov to his government who thinks the West should be nuked as soon as possible
President Andrzej Duda said his country will take up nuclear arms if they are asked to by Nato as they look for somewhere to deploy weapons and respond to the latest chilling Putin threats.
Poland sits in a crucial position in terms of the ongoing war in Ukraine with the Nato nation sharing a border with Belarus and the Russian military playground of Kaliningrad.
Ukraine has always been reassured they have Poland's full support if ever needed due to their position.
The tyrant and his Kremlin cronies started to reinforce their armoury in Belarus and Kaliningrad recently, stocking up on their worrying warfare.
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Russia has the world's largest number of nuclear weapons as they topple the scales with nearly 6,000.
Only the US comes close to Putin's tally with most other nations failing to house over 400 nukes.