Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his top officials on Wednesday to draft proposals for a possible test of nuclear weapons, something Moscow has not done since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Putin has opened the door to Russia detonating nuclear bombs in his gravest threat of World War Three yet. If carried out, it would be the first time Russia has conducted nuclear weapons tests since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Russian president intensified his threats of a wider global war by revealing he has commissioned the development of even more sophisticated nuclear arms.

Russia is amassing nuclear weapons and attack submarines in the Arctic Circle as it prepares for war with Nato, Norway’s defence minister has warned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the establishment of an experimental regime for the introduction of new technologies in the Arctic by February 2026 and 2027. The corresponding decree was published on the government's website on November 4.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday praised some of Russia's newest weapons, describing them as faster and more effective, capable of ensuring security and strategic parity and even of use in rare metals extraction and lunar missions.