THE sound of the apocalypse has blasted across Russia as Vladimir Putin tested his nuke alarm alert system.

The harrowing sirens attempted to reach every city and citizen through speakers, phones, TVs and radio stations amid spiralling fears of an all-out nuclear war.

This morning, millions of Russians woke up to the sound they would dread the most to hear – doomsday.

Yesterday, Russia’s Ministry of Situations announced that a nationwide emergency test would take place this morning.

It is understood that the system is both for a mass emergencies and also to prepare the population in case of a nuclear attack.

Residents filmed the aggressively loud and haunting sounds of the horns and sirens from their snow-covered windows.

Since Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Putin, 71, and his band of cronies have been ramping up their threats of nuclear war against the West and Nato.

These have included a promise to wipe the UK off the map for supporting Ukraine.

And last week, Russia fired a nuclear missile – that is 30 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

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.

It came just 24 hours after Putin rattled his nuclear sabre in a chilling threat to the West during a rambling two-and-a-half-hour “state of the nation” speech.

The deranged despot – who looked sickly and unsteady – warned Nato not to intervene in Ukraine or face the wrath of his nuclear arsenal.

He also bragged how his unstoppable nuclear rocket Sarmat – known as Satan-2 – had been delivered to Russian forces.

The ageing Russian ruler appeared to be referencing French president Emmanuel Macron’s statements that he could not rule out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine – claims that other allies quickly rebuffed.

Putin warned that Western nations “must realise we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory.”

“All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don’t they get that?”

The deranged despot then insisted that the consequences would be “tragic” and brandished the threat of his nuclear rocket Sarmat – known as Satan-2.

Putin also boasted about how Russia has weapons which “could defeat [the West] on their own territory” .

He said: “Strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness for guaranteed use.”

His comments came as Putin is all but certain to secure a third term this month in a sham election that would see him rule over Russia until at least 2030.

Also last week, leaked Russian military files suggested that trigger-happy Putin is closer than ever to unleashing a nuclear strike.

The bombshell papers reveal what it would take for Putin to hit the red button – including an invasion by China.

It followed US intelligence’s warning last month that Russia is planning to launch nuclear weapons into space in a “grave” threat to the world’s security.

Such a weapon could pose a major danger to Western satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.

Putin’s nuclear threats

BELOW is a timeline of some of the thinly veiled, and more cutthroat threats Vladimir Putin has made against the West with his nuclear arsenal since invading Ukraine two years ago.

Feb 24 2022 – Vladimir Putin: “No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”

March 26 2022 – Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: “We have a special document on nuclear deterrence. This document clearly indicates the grounds on which the Russian Federation is entitled to use nuclear weapons. … This includes when an act of aggression is committed against Russia and its allies.”

April 20 2022 – Vladimir Putin: “The new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads will force all who are trying to threaten our country in the heat of frenzied, aggressive rhetoric to think twice.”

Feb 29 2024 – Vladimir Putin: “They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory… All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don’t they get that?”