Putin warns of nuclear war after unleashing another night of hell on Ukraine

Vladimir Putin launched new deadly strikes against Ukraine as the US signalled Donald Trump is losing patience with the Kremlin dictator.

The United States accused Moscow of dragging out the war even though Russia has seen 100,000 of its own troops killed so far this year. Footage showed the latest death and destruction as Putin’s aerospace forces struck Ukrainian military positions in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions with giant aerial bombs. And the Russians were shown using Grad multiple launch rocket systems in the Krasnoarmeysk section of the frontline in Donetsk region.

Separately, Moscow issued a nuclear war warning to the West, as Putin showcased in the Baltic Sea how his new sea drones could explode NATO ships.

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With Trump due to discuss the Ukrainian war with UK premier Sir Keir Starmer, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News that the US president is growing “impatient” about Putin’s delaying tactics and failure to end the war.

“I think he is growing increasingly frustrated that despite having very good interaction with Vladimir Putin in phone calls, it never leads to anything so the time has come for some action here, and I think the president has made that abundantly clear,” said Rubio.

“He’s losing his patience, he is losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war. That wasn’t his war, but he wants to see it come to an end.”

Rubio highlighted the chilling Russian toll Putin is accepting as he persists with the war in search of small territorial gains. “You know since January this year over 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed - just on the Russian side,” he said.

“It’s a bloody conflict with a lot of death and destruction. A lot of this engagement has been just about playing for time and sort of delay tactics to make it look like they are interested in peace but not really serious about it. He’s not going to fall into that trap of being pulled into endless talks about talks.”

Overnight, Russia continued to strike Ukraine, notably in Kharkiv and Sumy regions, with civilian casualties.

Ukraine hit back, closing Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg with drone incursions and destroying an electricity station at Zhutovo station supplying a key rail link in Volgograd. This caused disruption and chaos on a rail line supplying Putin’s war machine.

Early today Ukrainian drones were buzzing Kronstadt naval port on the Gulf of Finland, as Russia marked its annual Navy Day. Putin had cancelled a major navy show of force today here amid fears he could be targeted by Ukrainian strikes.

But footage shows his major war games in the Baltic Sea highlighting a new unmanned boat with a high-powered warhead destroying a mock NATO ship.

Putin closed a swathe of the Baltic in his latest show of strength to the West, part of July Storm war games involving 150-plus warships, 120 aircraft and 15,000-plus military personnel.

At the same time, his hawkish aide and former spymaster Nikolai Patrushev was sent out to slap down American General Christopher Donahue, who had indicated NATO possessed the military might to destroy the Russian Baltic region of Kaliningrad, wedged between Western states Poland and Lithuania, faster than Putin could blink in the event of Moscow’s aggression against the Alliance.

“We have long been aware of the West's plans for Kaliningrad,” retorted Patrushev. He accused the West of “aspirations” to “violate Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity by military means”.

“I can only comment on them in one way,” he said. “The Kaliningrad region is an integral part of Russia, and any military encroachment on it will be met with an immediate and crushing response using all the forces and means at our disposal.”

He specified he was threatening a nuclear response “as provided for in the Military Doctrine and the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence”.

Patrushev - a former head of the FSB counterintelligence service - warned: “Russia has all the necessary military instruments to guarantee the security of the Kaliningrad region.”

Meanwhile, Polish premier Donald Tusk - a former president of the European Council - said he had received an assessment of Russia’s readiness for military conflict with the NATO states in Europe in 18 months. The analysis was from General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

“NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, confirmed to me the American assessments that Russia will be ready for confrontation in just a year and a half,” said Tusk. “Russia will be ready for confrontation with Europe — and therefore with us — as early as 2027.”

Marine drones have been pioneered by Ukraine, which has been fighting for almost three and a half years for its sovereignty against Putin's invasion.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been rendered substantially ineffective by the threat from these unmanned boats to its ships.

But the new footage shows Moscow catching up with Ukraine and deploying its own sea drones - for example in the Baltic - where there is potential for confrontation with the West.

Meanwhile, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff forecast the US president would broker a peace deal. “We will resolve the issue between Russia and Ukraine, and we will conclude a peace agreement - because it must be,” he told Fox News. “The President is right: this war should never have started. I think we will come to a solution, and hopefully, this will be a turning point.”