Putin has ordered one of his nuclear-capable Tu-160 strategic bombers to fly close to the Ukrainian border in a menacing show of might, after his invading army was forced back in several regions of Ukraine and his Black Sea task force’s flagship was destroyed.

As it travelled over Russia’s western Kaluga area, between Moscow and the Ukrainian border, the Tupolev 160 was escorted by an Ilyushin Il-78 aerial refuelling tanker and four fighter aircraft.

The mission’s purpose has been kept a secret by Russia’s defence ministry.

Tu-160s were reportedly utilised to shoot standoff missiles at Ukrainian sites in the early stages of the war in February, as well as X-101 cruise missiles towards the city of Vinnytsia.

The massive swing-wing bomber, which is now the biggest active combat aircraft, can carry 12 nuclear missiles at twice the speed of sound. It’s Russia’s response to the B-1 Lancer of the US Air Force.

Tu-160s carrying conventional warheads utilised their remarkable 7,500-mile range to strike Syria, demolishing rebel-held towns in a merciless assault to help Putin’s buddy Bashar al-Assad.

The enormous plane was also purportedly used to launch “the Father of All Bombs,” a large fuel-air explosive bomb, in a weapons test on September 11, 2007.

The thermobaric weapon would be a viable alternative for Putin, who is keen to destroy the Ukrainians’ fighting spirit but has solid reasons to refrain from using nuclear weapons.

Putin’s hopes of presenting the triumph parade on May 9 have been dashed by Ukraine’s intransigence. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has stated that the defenders of Mariupol, which is besieged by Russian soldiers, will fight until the death.

While Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has raised the nuclear threat, saying that “Russia is deliberating bragging that they can destroy with nuclear weapons not only a certain country but the entire planet,” experts believe that the Russian leader would fear losing face if his commanders refused to launch a nuclear strike.

Putin would not issue the order to deploy nuclear weapons, according to Christo Grozev of the specialist news organisation Bellingcat, who told the BBC that he is aware of a substantial number of officials who will refuse to obey such a demand.

“Putin would not give an order to deploy nuclear weapons if he is not certain that the order will be carried out,” he told the BBC’s Ukrainian news station. It has been suggested in recent weeks that a considerable proportion of policemen are not prepared to carry out such directives.