Russia has staged major war games with nuclear–capable missiles in the Barents Sea in a warning to NATO as Putin suffers humiliating reversals in the war in Ukraine. The exercises come amid fears a cornered and unstable Vladimir Putin could lash out at the West amid his increasingly evident failure in the current war with his neighbour. Some analysts believe he could stage a provocation against NATO – perhaps in the Baltic republics – which has the potential to escalate to a World War Three. Dramatic footage shows the Bastion system – known as a 'ship–killer on wheels' – striking supersonic anti–ship Oniks missiles from the coast. 'The Northern Fleet conducted an exercise involving combined forces to destroy enemy naval groups in the Barents Sea,' said a fleet statement. 

'At certain stages of the exercise, a Tu–142 anti–submarine aircraft, Su–24M bombers, MiG–29K carrier–based fighters, as well as Tu–22M3 missile carriers and an Il–78 tanker aircraft, were involved.' The frigate Admiral Golovko fired a Kalibr cruise missile, while the guided–missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov unleashed a Vulkan cruise missile. The nuclear–powered guided–missile submarine Oryol struck with three Granit cruise missiles. All the missiles tested have nuclear variants.

Naval sources said 'objective control data confirmed the defeat of the 'enemy' ships' in the Arctic waters. The aim was to drill countering supposed Western attacks on Russia. The massive exercises were 'practicing defence of the coastal infrastructure of the Northern Fleet's garrisons and maritime infrastructure and counteracting mock enemy groups of ships and various types of modern robotic systems', according to Putin's Northern Fleet. The war games come as Ukraine is inflicting daily shame on Putin with strikes deep inside Russia at oil refineries, airbases and logistics hubs. Last night, Ukraine unleashed what is believed to be its most intense bombing campaign of the war, setting fires across Russia and blowing up a drone factory.

Putin also lost two major oil refineries in Saratov and Ufa, and a Wildberries base - a highly popular online retail platform in Russia, often dubbed the 'Russian Amazon' - at Novosemeykino in Samara region. The attacks are part of a campaign of long-range Ukrainian strikes targeting civilian infrastructure in Russia, which has been waging a large-scale offensive in Ukraine since February 2022. There were also attacks on the Engels-2 airbase, home to Putin's strategic bomber aircraft. Fuel trucks heading to Russia-controlled Crimea were also hit and drones were flown almost 1,600 miles to Omsk in Siberia. Kyiv says the aim is to force the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.