Vladimir Putin orders Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over Ukraine invasion

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Mr Putin asserted that leading Nato powers had made “aggressive statements” along with the West imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia, including the president himself.

Mr Putin ordered the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”.