At least 37 people have been killed after Russia attacked a Ukrainian ammunition depot with a drone as strikes on Kyiv continued for a third day.
Fire erupted at the depot, in the village of Myla in Kyiv’s Bucha district, as more than 200 people evacuated their homes and 50 residential buildings were destroyed.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the warehouse had been struck ‘followed by a detonation’.
He also announced a probe had been launched into the matter. It is forbidden to store ammunition close to civilian homes in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s doomsday submarine, which is designed to carry nuclear torpedoes capable of unleashing tsunamis, has been put to sea for the first time.
The Kremlin sent the nuclear submarine Khabarovsk off to sea trials in the White Sea with no fanfare last week.
The 10,000-ton submarine has been designed to carry up to six Poseidon nuclear torpedoes on top of its ordinary anti-ship and land-attack missiles.
The Poseidon missiles are said to have a range of more than 6,000 miles and can dive as deep as 3,280ft.
In theory, analysts say, an underwater blast created by Poseidon could drive a massive radioactive surge inland, sending huge tsunami waves that could devastate cities.
In recent days, Kremlin propagandists have called on Putin to launch the potentially deadly missile at the UK in retaliation for Britain’s decision to supply Ukraine with drones that were used to strike Russian territory.
Vladimir Solovyov, a state TV presenter, said: ‘Give the British three days to learn to breathe underwater, then hit them with Poseidon.’
When Putin confirmed a Poseidon test earlier this year, he said Russia had launched it from a submarine and then activated the reactor that powers it.
But in nuclear strategy perception is reality, and whether or not the system performs exactly as billed, its purpose is undeniable. It was developed as a response to the US’s withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev declared that Poseidon can be considered a true ‘doomsday weapon’.
Russian media commentators have suggested it could ‘drown Britain’. Western analysts say such scenarios are likely exaggerated, but agree the concept itself is designed to terrify. It is said to be 65 to 80ft long and about 6.5ft in diameter.
Some experts point out that generating a continent-sweeping radioactive tsunami is scientifically uncertain. But others note that uncertainty is the point.
If even a fraction of the horror described in Russian propaganda came to pass, coastal cities would be devastated, harbours contaminated, and land rendered toxic for years.
But experts told the Telegraph that though the threat appeared to be legitimate, it was unlikely Russia would ever use it in anger.
Dr Richard Connolly, an expert on Russian defence policy and an associate fellow at security think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, said: ‘Poseidon is what you might call a boutique capability. They are not making it in large numbers and it’s been designed for the very worst of scenarios.
‘If they were to do what the Russian TV presenters are proposing, they’d face retaliation from Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.
This is could very quickly lead to all out nuclear war!
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