As Putin faces a barrage of humiliating defeats on the Ukraine frontline, it’s feared he could now be one step away from unleashing nuclear Armageddon.
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Western officials have warned Putin and his generals are growing increasingly desperate amid seismic battlefield losses and “significant failures of military leadership”.
The Russian president is now due to hold an emergency meeting with his national security council – with the senate ordered to sit late to rubber stamp his expected draconian moves.
The summit with intelligence chiefs has sparked fears Putin could unveil a new wave of measures to boost his calamitous war in Ukraine.
Speculation is growing that he could shut the borders to military-age men in a bid to crank up his troops in the face of Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive.
And if Putin’s army fail to turn the tide, it’s thought he could ramp up the conflict using martial law and a formal war footing – including the mobilisation of his reserves.
According to the Mozhem Obyasnit Telegram channel, borders could be closed as soon as Wednesday to stop a mass exodus of fighters.
Putin has already scrambled 300,000 extra soldiers to the frontline in a partial mobilisation of troops – but it’s feared the desperate despot could declare total war in a major escalation of the conflict.
In Russia, the minimum age to be drafted to fight is 18, and all men aged between 18 and 27 are subject to conscription for one year of duty.
A flood of men left the country after last month’s call-up – meaning the Kremlin could lock down the borders immediately if he mobilises more troops.
The security council is set to discuss “neutralising threats to national security in the migration sphere” on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev is also due to deliver a special report at the meeting.
It will be a “remote” session – sparking speculation Putin could be hiding out at a secret bunker as he prepares to slap Soviet-style repression controls on Russians.
As experts warn the world must be ready for a nuclear war, the Russian elite have already had their own top-secret bunkers built.
Russian authorities have been ordered to make urgent checks to Putin’s own underground hideout.
It is believed Mad Vlad has a number of underground lairs in Siberia, including one in Sabetta and another one in the Altai Mountains.
Telegram channel SOTA posted a leaked order for one bomb shelter to be “brought into line with the direct purpose of a civil defence facility”.
US commanders have previously warned Putin could impose martial law on his country if he can’t achieve his goals in Ukraine.
Speaking at a Senate hearing, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Putin’s aims are greater than his country’s military capabilities.
“The current trend increases the likelihood that President Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production, or potentially escalatory military options to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives<” she said.
After a major defeat in Lyman earlier this month, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia’s Chechen region, called for martial law to be introduced.
In a chilling message, he wrote: “In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.”
As fears of nuclear war grow, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace dashed to Washington for crisis talks.
A security source told The Sun: “The threat has increased recently.”
Mr Wallace cancelled giving evidence to MPs at short notice to head to the US capital to talk to his American counterparts.
US President Joe Biden previously warned that the world is closer to Armageddon than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
In a fresh bout of sabre-rattling on Tuesday, Putin’s spokesman warned that newly annexed parts of Ukraine could be defended by nuclear weapons.