Vladimir Putin insisted he's "not bluffing" when it comes to threatening the Western world with using nuclear weapons.Russia is expected to soon carry out large-scale drills of its nuclear forces in a warning to the United States and its allies.Putin typically holds major annual nuclear exercises around this time of year, and US officials expect them perhaps in just days.READ MORE: Will Daily Star's 60p Tesco lettuce or PM Liz Truss last longer?
Watch live feedMoscow's nuclear rhetoric has intensified following a successful counter-offensive by Ukraine's military over the past month.In recent weeks Putin has proclaimed the annexation of Ukrainian territories and threatened to defend Russian land with nuclear weapons.Nukes have only been used twice in warfare during in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 but the death toll was terrifying with up to 226,000 people - mostly civilians - suffering a gruesome death.Although nukes are largely considered a deterrent, about 13,400 remain in our world today and there have been over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted to date.Nine countries are said to possess nuclear weapons; Russia, the US, China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.During an explosion, those unfortunate enough to be within 7km of the blast site would be instantly vaporised and any life within 60km will risk suffering the deadly effects of radiation poisoning.There are two types of nuclear weapons; Fission (A-bombs) are the most basic type of nuclear weapon as used by the Americans on Japan.
Security experts think these are the most likely type of bomb to be used by terrorists.Fusion (H-Bombs), such weapons are usually many hundreds of times more powerful than the bombs that destroyed.
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