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Putin Taunts The West by Taking a Flight in Russias' Tu-160M Strategic Nuclear Bomber as Kremlin Threatens Nuclear War

HUNGRY FOR MORE Fears Putin Days Away From Annexing ANOTHER Part of Europe in Fresh Hitler-Style Landgrab to Mark Ukraine Anniversary

Aside from 2,000 troops, Russia is feared to have thousands of paramilitaries waiting to strike inside Moldova

MailOnline 23 FEB 2024














VLADIMIR Putin could be on the brink of attempting another Hitler-style landgrab in Europe - the annexation of a Moldovan territory.

Fears are growing that the warmongering tyrant, 71, will attempt to strike at the West by announcing warped plans for the former Soviet republic that neighbours Ukraine next week.


Putin may announce an annexation of the pro-Moscow breakaway region of Transnistria following the second anniversary of his war against Ukraine

Russian so-called 'peacekeepers' take part in a parade to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Transnistria's illegal independence

There are reports that the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria - which illegally declared its independence from Moldova in 1990 - is plotting to appeal to Putin to join Russia.

The landlocked strip along the Dniester River is wedged between both Moldova and Ukraine, which will pass its second anniversary in the grips of a grinding war with Russia this weekend.

Putin already has a so-called "peacekeeping" force of up to 2,000 troops in the region, which has a population of about 470,000 that Moscow says overwhelmingly wishes to be incorporated into Russia.

He is also believed to have thousands of paramilitaries on the ground, ready to take arms when the call comes.

Putin is set to make a major speech at the Russian Federal Assembly on February 29 - sparking fears he will use it to green light plans for an annexation.

The day before, a “congress” of local politicians has been called in Transnistria amid speculation they will issue a formal appeal to join Russia.

The last such congress led to such a demand.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has insisted Moscow will "not leave its citizens living in Transnistria in trouble”.







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Putin Taunts The West by Taking a Flight in Russias' Tu-160M Strategic Nuclear Bomber



















The despots' stunt - which lasted around 40 minutes - appeared to be intended to enhance his macho ratings as he stands for re-election next month, and distract attention from the 'murder' of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic jail.


But by flying in a type of warplane that has been used to wreak havoc in Ukraine with conventional weapons, he was sending a message that he intends to keep fighting in Ukraine, which he invaded almost two years ago.





And the huge Tu-160M - aka White Swan - is a key part of his nuclear strike force at a time when the Kremlin is bluntly warning the West over the risk of nuclear war.

Putin was seen taking off in Kazan a day after he visited a factory in the city where the Tupolev bombers are manufactured.

He clambered up a ladder at the factory to go inside the plane and spent ten minutes in the ****pit.

He then made the decision to fly himself in one of his bombers - his first flight since he took to the sky in a Tu-160 in 2005.

The giant swing-wing plane is a substantially modernised-version of a Soviet-era bomber that the USSR would have deployed in the event of a nuclear war with the West to deliver nuclear weapons at long distances.

The TU-160M is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles or 12 short-range nuclear missiles and can fly 7,500 miles non-stop without re-fuelling.

The electioneering stunt came less than a week after a man who wanted to oust him as president - Navalny - was 'murdered' inside his bleak Arctic jail.

Even though the March election is expected to be rigged in Putin's favour, he is currently more visible on state TV than he has been for years.

A breathless report on Putin-controlled Russian state TV said: 'We just saw that the president [Vladimir Putin] again, for the second time in two days, climbed into the ****pit of a Tu-160 strategic bomber.'

On the tarmac, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had 'made a decision to take a flight. There will be a flight [with Putin] now.'

Putin later emerged from the Tu-160M to hail the improved aircraft - the model in which he had flown - as suitable for the Russian air force.

'The technology is excellent. It can be accepted into the Armed Forces,' he said.







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