PUTIN'S feared army chief has sent out a chilling warning to the West saying the risk of WW3 is "significantly" skyrocketing closer to reality.
Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky said the devastating fighting in Ukraine could soon spill over into Europe and ignite a terrifying global conflict.
The senior military official labelled the risk of such a drastic escalation as "significantly increasing" day-by-day as Russia struggles to fight off a new "hybrid warfare" from Ukraine and their worldwide allies.
The Putin crony even dragged the US into the scarily possible conflict claiming they were deploying anti-Russian policies to continue to show support for Ukraine.
Zarudnitsky, head of the Russia's Military Academy of the General Staff, spoke to Military Thought - a defence ministry publication - and voiced his grave threats, say the state media outlet RIA.
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The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing
Vladimir Zarudnitsky
He said: "The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in 'proxy forces' used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out.
"The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity.
"The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing."
His haunting warnings aren't the first time the idea of a WW3-style escalation has been mentioned as a possibility by senior Russian officials.
A military report leaked in January detailed Russia's top tyrant Putin's possible "path to conflict" to dominate much of Europe.
The ten point plan started last month and if all goes the Kremlin's way could end up as a full scale global war as soon as 2025.
The final step could see 500,000 Russian and Nato troops facing off with each other at the Suwalki Gap - bringing the world to the edge of World War Three.
As on Wednesday, 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 as Putin, 71, attempted to strike fear into every citizen.
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The eerie test of the nuke alarm alert system comes amid spiralling fears of an all-out nuclear war.
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.
