Vladimir Putin has sent a fleet of bombers to a military base housing a large supply of nuclear weapons, sparking fears of World War 3. The Russian President has upped the stakes in his war in Ukraine, after illegally annexing four new provinces. During a carefully choreographed ceremony in Moscow, Putin announced on Friday that the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would now be formally considered part of Russia.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that the Kremlin would \"use all means\" at its disposal to protect the newly incorporated territories.<\/p>\n
Analysts interpreted the phrase as yet another threat by Putin to deploy his nuclear arsenal, if the West continues to support Kyiv's army.<\/p>\n
Newly released satellite images appear to show that the Russian President may be prepared to make good on his threats.<\/p>\n
Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) said they had detected an \"irregular presence\" of Russian TU-160 and TU-95 strategic bombers at the Olenya Airbase near Finland.<\/p>\n
Satellite photos taken by the company revealed the presence of four TU-160s at the base on August 21 and three TU-95s on September 25th.<\/p>\n
The military base is located on the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk and houses a number of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, as well as Russia's Northern Fleet.<\/p>\n
Around 5,000 Russian soldiers are believed to be stationed in the city.<\/p>\n
Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraines eastern forces, told Reuters: \"Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas.<\/p>\n
\"It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important.\"<\/p>\n
Images on social media depicted Ukrainian soldiers raising a Ukrainian flag on the outskirts of the city.<\/p>\n
Luhansks governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on his Telegram channel: \"The occupiers trapped in Lyman asked the Russian command to allow them to leave the city, but were refused.\"<\/p>\n
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'Irregular presence': Putin sends bombers to nuclear weapons base as fears of WW3 rise - Express<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vladimir Putin has sent a fleet of bombers to a military base housing a large supply of nuclear weapons, sparking fears of World War 3. The Russian President has upped the stakes in his war in Ukraine, after illegally annexing four new provinces. During a carefully choreographed ceremony in Moscow, Putin announced on Friday that the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would now be formally considered part of Russia Continue reading