RUSSIAN citizens were told to "keep calm" before their TV channels were taken over and sirens wailed in a chilling doomsday test.
Harrowing apocalyptic sounds blasted across all Russian regions on Wednesday as Vladimir Putin, 71, attempted to reach every citizen.
The eerie test of Putin's nuke alarm alert system comes amid spiralling fears of an all-out nuclear war.
Russia's Emergency Ministry announced on Tuesday that a nationwide emergency test would take place on Wednesday morning, and asked that people remain calm.
The ministry warned: "Keep calm - everything is going according to plan!
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"On March 6, the public warning system will be checked throughout the country.
"The 'Attention everyone!' signal will sound: sirens and loudspeakers will go off; broadcasts of television and radio channels will be replaced with special information."
It said the warning systems were being tested "as part of large-scale exercises to prepare for the protection of the population and territories from floods and wildfires".
The sirens test was held at various times between 10am and 11am, across all of Russia, with corresponding communications appearing on TV channels and screens in public transport.
Residents also received messages from mobile operators and notifications in their Russian Emergency Situations Ministry apps.
Natalya, 41, from St Petersburg, said: "I heard the music and thought: there’s a war going on, and we’re dancing!"
Ostroff from Novosibirsk added: "Today in Novosibirsk such a siren really scared me, because I hadn’t heard any news about it. The first thought was: 'Well, it’s reached Siberia'."
Another resident, named Ekaterina K, said: "I heard it for the first time today and I had goosebumps.
"To be honest, it's not a nice sound."
There are currently 754 loudspeakers operating in the region, and another 121 to be installed by the end of March.
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About 78 per cent of the city of Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk region was covered by warning sirens, according to the mayor's office.
The press service of the mayor's office said: "Every year, city authorities work to increase their number, installing sirens primarily on municipally owned buildings.
"The installation of sirens on residential buildings, for example, is most often not agreed upon by management companies."
It is understood that the system is both for a mass emergencies and also to prepare the population in case of a nuclear attack.
Tests are held twice a year - in March and October.
Residents filmed the aggressively loud and haunting sounds of the horns and sirens from their snow-covered windows.
Since Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Putin and his band of cronies have been ramping up their threats of nuclear war against the West and Nato.
These have included a promise to wipe the UK off the map for supporting Ukraine.
And last week, Russia fired a nuclear missile - that is 30 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Yars missiles - known to Nato forces as SS-29s - can hit speeds of Mach 25, or nearly 20,000mph.
They can carry nuclear warheads up to a strength of 500 kilotons.
Russia is estimated to have more than 150 Yars missiles in service - and they have nearly 6,000 nuclear warheads.
It came just 24 hours after Putin rattled his nuclear sabre in a chilling threat to the West during a rambling two-and-a-half-hour "state of the nation" speech.
The deranged despot - who looked sickly and unsteady - warned Nato not to intervene in Ukraine or face the wrath of his nuclear arsenal.
He also bragged how his unstoppable nuclear rocket Sarmat - known as Satan-2 - had been delivered to Russian forces.
The ageing Russian ruler appeared to be referencing French president Emmanuel Macron's statements that he could not rule out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine - claims that other alliance allies quickly rebuffed.
During his explosive remarks, Putin warned that Western nations "must realise we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory."
"All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don't they get that?"
The deranged despot then insisted that the consequences would be "tragic" and brandished the threat of his nuclear rocket Sarmat - known as Satan-2.
Putin also boasted about about how his "strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness for guaranteed use."
His threats came as Putin is all but certain to secure a third term this month in a sham election that would see him rule over Russia until at least 2030.
Also last week, leaked Russian military files suggested that trigger-happy Putin is closer than ever to unleashing a nuclear strike.
The bombshell papers reveal what it would take for Putin to hit the red button - including an invasion by China.
It followed US intelligence's warning last month that Russia is planning to launch nuclear weapons into space in a "grave" threat to the world's security.
Such a weapon could pose a major danger to Western satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.
