Russia hoping to 'knock sense' into Britain and West as it carries out nuclear drills

Speaking to the RIA state agency, he said: “They are trying to tell us that the United States and Nato would stop at nothing in Ukraine.

“Nevertheless, we hope that the Russian-Belarusian drills on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons that are under way now will knock some sense into our opponents by reminding them about the catastrophic consequences of further nuclear escalation.”

Earlier this month, Putin instructed the Ministry of Defence to conduct a test of non-strategic nuclear weapons, which is expected to take place “in the near future”.

In a message on Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Defence said the tests would take place “in response to provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials against the Russian Federation”.

Russian media quoted the Ministry as stating: “On instructions from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions, the General Staff has begun preparations for holding exercises in the near future with missile formations of the Southern Military District with the involvement of aviation, as well as naval forces.”

Former Russian president Dimitry Medvevev reacted to the news of upcoming tests, warning the West of potential “world catastrophe”.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Europe must create its own Iron Dome to protect against missiles, Tusk urges
• 'No way of shooting down Putin's missiles' ex-general warns as Russia could aim 600mph weapons at Britain
• Putin reveals 40ft-nuke missile that can launch from hidden subs and carries 10 warheads

In a social media rant, Medvedev slated Western leaders as “infantile morons” and “irresponsible scoundrels”.

He claimed the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine - which he called a "non-existent country" - would merit a terrifying Russian response, from which no heads of state would be able to hide.

While some Western and Ukrainian officials have said Russia is scaremongering via its nuclear weapons threats, the Kremlin has repeatedly indicated that it would consider breaking the nuclear taboo if Russia's existence was threatened.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence, said: “We do not see anything new here - nuclear blackmail is a constant practice of Putin's regime.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called Western statements about sending Nato soldiers to Ukraine “a completely new round of escalation of tension”, adding: “it is unprecedented, and of course it requires special attention and special measures.”

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has urged Europe to spend billions on an Israeli-style “Iron Dome” defence system as threats from Russia mount.

Tusk said he and other leaders would table plans for the £3.4billion-valued European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) - of which Britain is part - to the European Council and Commission in just days.

He said: “Creating an Iron Dome against missiles and drones is necessary... The recent attack on Israel showed how essential such systems are.

"There is no reason for Europe not to have its missile defence shield.”