NUKE TERROR
Russia bombs Ukrainian city with nuclear-capable artillery amid fears Putin will use tactical nukes to break deadlock
RUSSIA'S terrifying nuclear capable artillery guns have been spotted besieging a Ukrainian city as fears grow Vladimir Putin may resort to tactical nukes.
Vladimir Putin's defence ministry stoked fears of turning the conflict nuclear as they released images of the massive 46.5 ton weapon firing shells towards Kharkiv.
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Video shows the giant tracked self-propelled Malka gun bombarding the besieged city as Russia continues its grinding campaign in Ukraine.
It comes as Russian deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy warned that Putin will use nuclear weapons if "provoked" by Nato.
"If Russia is provoked by NATO, if Russia is attacked by NATO, why not? We are a nuclear power," he said.
Polyanskiy is one of the Russia's top diplomats in the US.
The 2S7M howitzer can bombard their targets from 35 miles away and have massive barrels capable of firing laser guided 100kg eight inch shells.
And the guns are so powerful, they have been known to knock out crew members who find themselves shocked by the concussive force.
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The weapons systems are reported to be matched up with Orlan-10 drones which help pick out targets and beam data back to the crew.
It is claimed the weapon is accurate with five metres.
But their most worrying aspect - is their ability to be armed with nuclear ammo. the 3BV2 nuke shells.
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The shells have the destructive power of up to 1kt - which despite being small for a nuke is still horrific destructive power.
The biggest conventional bomb ever used - America's infamous MOAB - only had 11 tons of destructive power.
So that means the nuke shells are around 100 times more powerful as they have the force of 1,000 tons of TNT.
It comes as:
- Vladimir Putin could face being deposed in a coup as fury grows in his inner circle over Russia's failures in Ukraine
- Russia has lost up to 40,000 troops in Ukraine along with at least 17 commanders
- Fears are growing of more brutal Russian tactics as Putin was accused of using phosphorous bombs
- Russian landing ship Orsk was blown up as it was anchored in the occupied port of Berdyansk
- Apocalyptic footage showed the devastation of Mariupol as the vicious bombardment of the city continues
- Video also shows the moment a Russian tank was blown to pieces as Putin has lost 3,300 vehicles during the invasion
- Britain is now sending another 6,000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to help the fight against Russia
Russia is thought to have around 2,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal in the form of small yield missiles, torpedoes and artillery shells.
Putin's commanders believed they could roll over the former Soviet state in days - but now the war has been raging for one month.
Russian troops thought they would be greeted with cheers and waving flags, instead they were faced with rage and molotov cocktails.
But this slow and brutal quagmire has seen the Russians change tactics, moving from surgical strikes to indiscriminate bombardment on cities.
And fears are now growing Putin could resort to even more barbaric weapons - potentially using tactical nukes.
The deployment of the Malka guns - that could be equipped with nuclear shells - fuels the concern.
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General Sir Richard Barrons told : "So when President Putin starts to talk about nuclear options, he may have in mind something like this."
He added: "We should understand that the stakes for Ukraine have now become global.
"Essentially by raising the spectre of nuclear weapons, the rest of the Western hemisphere is now on the pitch with Ukraine."
Experts from across the board have issued warnings that as Russia finds itself increasingly bogged down, it may turn to tactical nukes to break the deadlock.
Both the US and Russia are believed to have invested much time and money into developing smaller battlefield-ready atomic weapons.
The weapons lack the truly terrifying devastating destructive power of the biggest Cold War-era weapons - such as the Tsar Bomba.
A single 58 megaton Tsar Bomba could cause devastation across 50 miles area, kill millions of people, send a shockwave that would circle the globe three times, and cause a mushroom cloud visible for 500 miles.
Such a bomb was deemed far too big to ever be used due to the potentially apocalyptic consequences of such a nuclear exchange.
But that sort of thinking is what has pushed war planners to develop and potentially use tactical - as opposed to strategic - nuclear weapons.
Russia has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of nukes and has frequently brought up the spectre of the weapons.
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Moscow's war doctrine is believed to be open to using nuclear weapons in a conventional conflict as an intimidation tactic - and use of such a weapon must be signed off personally by Putin.
The tactic became known as "escalate to de-escalate".
Moscow has previously practiced such strategies in the field - such as simulating a Nato attack on the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The scenario saw the Russian forces strike back at the invading West by firing nuclear arms at Poland and the US.
And these drills are believed to have taken place in the nineties and noughties, with tactical nukes used for both offense and defense.
Dr Patricia Lewis, an expert from the Chatham House think tank, told : "They might not see it as crossing this big nuclear threshold.
"They could see it as part of their conventional forces."
Other weapons of this type available to Vlad also include the Kalibr cruise missile that can fired from warships of land-based missile launchers.
Vlad could also use the land-based Iskander missile launcher.
And he has available to him to the Tyulpan atomic mortar, a similar weapon to the Malka that can fire nuclear shells.
All of these weapons are believed to have been deployed near Ukraine in their conventional forms.
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James Acton, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Pace in Washington DC, said: "I am legitimately worried that in that circumstance Putin might use a nuclear weapon, most likely on the ground in Ukraine to terrify everyone and get his way."
And meanwhile, General James R. Clapper Jr. a retired US Air Force commander, warned Moscow has lowered its bar for using atomic weapons.
He told the that Russia regards nuclear arms as "utilitarian rather than unthinkable".
The war continues on with a major Nato meeting today in which US President Joe Biden is expected to lay out the next steps again Russia.
Putin has found himself increasingly isolated on the world stage as crushing economic sanctions levied against Russia begin to bite.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is becoming increasingly bloody, and right now there is no end in sight.
Confidence is growing for the Ukrainians as they begin to launch offensives to push the Russians back.
Moscow's forces have failed to execute the long expected assault on Kyiv - and have only taken a handful of cities.
Thousands of civilians have been killed - men, women and children - and millions of people have become refugees.
And the longer the war goes on, the innocent more people will die and the more likely is Putin will do something shocking - such as using chemical or nuclear weapons.
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