‘Irregular presence’: Putin sends bombers to nuclear weapons base as fears of WW3 rise – Express

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.

He emphasised that the Kremlin would "use all means" at its disposal to protect the newly incorporated territories.

Analysts interpreted the phrase as yet another threat by Putin to deploy his nuclear arsenal, if the West continues to support Kyiv's army.

Newly released satellite images appear to show that the Russian President may be prepared to make good on his threats.

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.

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.

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.

Around 5,000 Russian soldiers are believed to be stationed in the city.

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.

"It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important."

Images on social media depicted Ukrainian soldiers raising a Ukrainian flag on the outskirts of the city.

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."

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'Irregular presence': Putin sends bombers to nuclear weapons base as fears of WW3 rise - Express