LEAKED pictures have allegedly shown a Russian submarine in Crimea being loaded with nuke-capable Kalibr missiles to attack Ukraine.
The Veliky Novgorod diesel-electric submarine was in dock in Sevastopol, according to Ukraine Now Telegram channel.
“Russian Kalibr-type cruise missiles were loaded onto the Veliky Novgorod diesel-electric submarine – the very ones bombing the peaceful cities of Ukraine,” said the report.
The loading several days ago came ahead of a mission by the submarine in the Black Sea.
Ukraine's Yug operation command said: “By blocking shipping, conducting surface situation detection and aerial reconnaissance, [the Russians] continue to carry the threat of a missile attack on almost the entire territory of Ukraine."
Russian defence minister Sergey Shoigu has boasted that deployment in Syria from the Caspian Sea “confirmed a high effectiveness of the missiles at major distances of nearly 1500 km (932 miles).”
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It comes after a new British submarine worth £1 billion loaded up with missiles in a warning to Putin.
The Kalibr can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads.
Conventional warheads are believed to be on the pier where the submarine is tethered in Sevastopol, in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Kalibr has already been used in the current war to target Ukraine.
The powerful cruise missiles were launched from ships in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea at Ukrainian military infrastructure, Russia's Defence Ministry said.
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Strikes were reportedly carried out using long-range precision weapons on the evening of March 19 and the morning of March 20 and hit a site in the city of Nizhyn in Chernihiv state, 116 miles northeast of Kyiv.
The high-grade missiles which can travel at up to five times the speed of sound and is so powerful that it has been dubbed 'The Sizzler' by NATO.
Further missiles, including the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, were also launched from Crimea to destroy a fuel storage facility used by Ukraine, Russia has claimed.
But the fancy piece of kit is prone to misfiring as seen last year from a warship on Russia’s Pacific coast.
A video showed how a missile fired from frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov rose, and rotated alarmingly before crashing into the sea.
A voice of an officer making the film from the air is heard saying “Look, the sea is burning”.
Eventually the Kalibr missile burned out in the Pacific Ocean, as the warship sped away.
It comes as Russia claims it thwarted a plot to assassinate Vladimir Solovyev, one of the Kremlin's chief propagandists.
Solovyev has made highly controversial remarks over the war in Ukraine and once threatened nuclear annihilation for Russia's "enemies".
"On the subject of us using nuclear weapons," Solovyev told his viewers, "let me remind them of the phrase used by our supreme commander-in-chief…
'"Why do we need a world in which there is no Russia?"
"So if anyone thinks we're bluffing, they should pay attention to the behaviour of our supreme commander. He never bluffs."
It comes as Russia continues to fail in its war aims, with Putin believing he could conquer Ukraine in a matter of days.
Ukraine's military claims Russia has so far lost close to 22,000 troops in the unwinnable conflict, which is set to enter its third month.
And they claim the invaders have also seen more than 2,200 armoured vehicles lost or destroyed and 181 planes and 154 helicopters shot down.
Russian troops have been forced back from Kyiv, which has been a political disaster for Putin, who's lost dozens of commanders and seen the country's flagship Moskva sink in the Black Sea after being hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed those sentiments following a visit to the capital Kyiv.
Speaking at a news conference on the border with Poland after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US top diplomat added that a "sovereign, independent Ukraine" will be around "a lot longer than Russia's Putin is on the scene".
"The strategy that we've put in place – massive support for Ukraine, massive pressure against Russia, solidarity with more than 30 countries engaged in these efforts – is having real results," he said.
"When it comes to Russia's war aims, Russia is failing, Ukraine is succeeding.
"Russia has sought as its principal aim to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed."
It comes amid fears Putin could order a nuclear strike on Ukraine any day now.
A growing band of Kremlin insiders fear their Russian leader will resort to nuclear weapons to defeat Ukraine and halt a palace coup, reports say.
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Putin’s opponents believe the war against Ukraine has been a terrible blunder and will set Russia back decades.
The sources shared the concerns previously expressed by US intelligence officials that Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
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