I hope there's no need for nukes, Vlad tells West

VLADIMIR Putin has told the West: "There has been no need to use nuclear weapons... and I hope they will not be required.

- By Giles Sheldrick

VLADIMIR Putin has told the West: “There has been no need to use nuclear weapons... and I hope they will not be required.”

The statement, made in a propaganda film to mark his 25th year in power, comes as Russia’s war with Ukraine rumbles on.

Moscow has 5,449 nuclear warheads — the largest number of atomic weapons on Earth - which can launch from missiles, submarines and aircraft.

Putin has already placed his nuclear forces on “combat duty” and in November, he lowered the threshold for weapons use from an existential threat to Russia to a threat to its territorial integrity.

Stockpile