Putin vows to create 'new world' and threatens West with total nuclear destruction in event of strike on Russia
5 October 2023, 20:47 | Updated: 5 October 2023, 20:57
Vladimir Putin has threatened the West with total nuclear destruction, with "no chance of survival", in the event of a strike on Russia.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
In a scathing anti-US speech, Vladimir Putin said his “Satan-2” and “Flying Chernobyl” missiles are ready to be deployed.
In the Valdai Discussion Club, a conference in Sochi, southern Russia, Putin said: "From the moment the launch of missiles is detected, no matter where it comes from - from any point of the world ocean or from any territory - such a number, so many hundreds of our missiles appear in the air in a retaliatory strike that there is no chance of survival there will be no single enemy left, and in several directions at once."
He then asked the West to understand that threats against his country are “absolutely unacceptable for any potential aggressor.”
The West has not threatened a first strike on Moscow.
Read more: Russian attack kills at least 51 people, including child, as bombs target eastern Ukrainian village
Russia has "practically finished work on the modern strategic weapons", according to Mr Putin.
He also reiterated Russia could withdraw from the nuclear test ban treaty, which would allow Putin to independently test major weapons, likely in the Arctic - demanded by his supporters.
This comes days after an analysis of satellite images of an Arctic base suggested Russia had or was about to conduct Burevestnik missile tests.
The satellite images show movements in the area resembling those spotted during previous tests of the same weapons in 2017 and 2018, according to the New York Times.
The president has boasted about the capabilities of the "unstoppable Satan-2" but there is only one successful test of the weapon.
Western sources have also suggested the 13 tests of the Burevestnik "Flying Chernobyl" missile have all failed.
A test in 2019 caused the death of seven people who attempted to salvage the missile when it crashed.
Putin called them "national heroes" without citing the exact cause of their deaths.
