It has been reported that Vladimir Putin will send a 'doomsday' warning to the Western powers during the celebrations marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
Putin is expected to give a speech on Red Square before tanks, international ballistic missiles, rockets and a parade of troops.
Supersonic fighters, Tu-160 strategic bombers and the Il-80 'doomsday' command plane carrying Russia's top brass in the event of nuclear war will fly past over St Basil's Cathedral according to the Defence Ministry.
The Il-80 is also designed to be the 'roaming command centre' for Putin. The particular details over the plane's technology are classified as state secrets.
Bizarrely, the Russian President has repeatedly drawn a link between the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and the war in Ukraine.
When the announcement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced on the 24th of February, Putin had said:
"The attempt to appease the aggressor on the eve of the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake that cost our people dearly. We will not make such a mistake a second time, we have no right."
[Based on reporting by: Reuters]
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