Putin poised to stage major nuclear-capable missile test in hours as WW3 fears skyrocket

 Vladimir Putin is threatening to stage an imminent major nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile test amid high tension with the West. Residents in remote peninsula Kamchatka have been warned of a rocket smashing into the Kura test site between today (Wednesday) and Sunday.

This comes as Putin prepares for his annual military parade on Red Square on Saturday and defies a Ukrainian move for a ceasefire by blitzing a kindergarten in the border region of Sumy, killing one civilian woman. The ICBM missile test is evidently seen as a show of strength to the West and Ukraine. Two US RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft - designed to track ballistic missile tests - have been stationed in Alaska since April 22, ahead of an expected Russian test, say reports. The last time a Russian ICBM test was conducted at Kura involved a Yars missile in October 2024. Then, it was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwestern Russia.

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov warned the West at the time the war games were to show Russia could deliver "a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy."

The Kura military testing range is in Ust-Kamchatsky, 310 miles north of regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. People are now banned from entering the area around the range.

A statement said: "The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is warning residents of the region about tests being conducted at the Kura range in the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal district from May 6 to May 10 inclusive.

Residents are urged to refrain from visiting the range and nearby territories during this period."

Russia has carried out several strikes across Ukraine over recent days, including one that hit a kindergarten in the border city of Sumy. The drone attack levelled the building, killing a female security guard and injuring two women aged 52 and 53.

Authorities have not yet confirmed whether more victims may be trapped under the debris. Fortunately, no children were present at the time. In a separate assault, a powerful KAB250 bomb was dropped on Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region.