VLADIMIR Putin has test-fired a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile that the world "has never seen" before.
The "super weapon" is understood to be capable of dodging Western detection thanks to its unpredictable manoeuvres.
The suspected advanced rocket was launched last week from the Kapustin Yar test range - leaving a bizarre smoke trail behind.
The intercontinental missile was spotted "waltzing" across the sky from different regions in Russia and even Iran.
Shocked witnesses have caught the unusual "pirouettes" on camera with the clips showing white smoke twirls.
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Following the testing of the mysterious weapon, Ukraine has been on a total air alert, according to a military expert.
Colonel Viktor Baranets, Russian defence expert for Komsomolskaya Pravda, said: "Nato's intelligence agencies are beside themselves after Russia's new missile test.
"It looked like a comet with a serpentine white tail.
“Its spiralling twists and turns were watched with amazement by residents of different regions of Russia - Orenburg, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Dagestan and others.
“And even in many countries of the Middle East.
“Now the world is puzzled - what is this unprecedented miracle?”
The Russian defence ministry refused to name the secret rocket that was fired from a mobile missile launcher.
But it has boasted the success of the testing, adding that "objectives were completed in full" - without any further details.
The former colonel rules out the possibility that the new rocket is one of the several known Putin missiles under development, such as the Avangard and Burevestnik.
Instead, he concludes it could be a new version of the Yars ICBM - with a stunning technological advance.
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ICBMs are designed to destroy enemy targets at long distances with a range of over 3,400 miles.
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.
“In all likelihood, it will be a new version of the Yars from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering,” Baranets said.
He believes the missile's weird flying pattern could be attributed to a new breakthrough technology.
He continued: “The world has never seen such launches with a missile ‘waltzing’ in the sky.
“An overseas missile warning system would be out of its mind if it tried to understand the logic of the flight of such a missile and calculate its trajectory.
“In addition, this crazy trajectory was in some parts on a straight line, which makes it even more difficult to intercept the missile.”
But the expert doesn't exclude that the "sky waltz" could be the result of a brief technical glitch.
“Or vice versa - a new system capable of confusing any enemy," he added.
“And the most important thing is that the missile reached its target” - or so the defence ministry gloated.
The launch was carried out at a time of high tensions between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine.
The conflict is feared to spill over into Europe after a Russian missile roared into Polish airspace during a blitz of Ukraine.
The warmonger's missiles hammered infrastructure in Kyiv and Lviv, but one of the cruise missiles stayed over Nato territory for 39 seconds, triggering a major alert.
Putin's crony has also sent a chilling warning to the West saying the risk of WW3 is "significantly" skyrocketing closer to reality.
In turn, Nato has announced its biggest call-up in decades as 90,000 troops have been mobilised for World War 3 drills.
Steadfast Defender will run until late May, involving units from all 31 NATO member countries plus candidate-member Sweden.
Among that number are 20,000 British troops as the alliance plans to test allies on their ability to engage in conflict with an adversary as capable as Russia.
Previously, a leaked military report revealed what could be Vladimir Putin's step-by-step plan to bring the West to the brink of World War 3.
The secret docs detail the despot's possible "path to conflict" which reaches its climax in the summer of 2025 on "Day X" when half a million Nato and Russian soldiers will face each other.
