President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces to be put on alert amid tensions with the West following the recent invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Mr Putin asserted that leading Nato powers had made “aggressive statements” along with the West imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia, including the president himself.
President Putin ordered the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”.
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A top Tory MP has recently warned that Russia could use chemical or even low level nuclear weapons to win the war in Ukraine.
Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said Vladimir Putin "can't fail" in his mission with the stakes being high, reports The Mirror.
He said more sanctions were needed, on a daily basis if necessary, to ensure the Russian leader was stopped from achieving his aim.
Putin has already spoken of the "cutting-edge" arsenal of weapons available and made it clear he would retaliate if any other country inhibited him.
In a Kremlin speech, the Russian president said there would be "consequences" like "never seen in history" to those who interfered with Russia's military incursion into Ukraine.
Now Mr Ellwood, speaking on television, has raised his own concerns over Putin and his actions saying: "As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today’s Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states.
“Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country."
Mr Ellwood told BBC: "If I have a concern I would not put it beyond Putin to stoop to radical tactics to secure victory. He can't fail and the stakes are very very high indeed.
"We need to continue to support Ukraine not just with hard power but with humanitarian aid as well.
"We also put pressure on Russia. I don't think a day should go by when a new initiative isn’t announced.
"Today we've rolled out limits on Swift. Tomorrow all of Europe should send home Russia ambassadors back to Moscow.
"Let's invite Sweden and Finland to join Nato.
"For months we’ve been playing catch up. We must now start to control the agenda."
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