RADIATION-ready Russian soldiers prepare for nuclear war in the first footage to emerge of a terrifying practice drill involving up to 40 million people.
Emergency services wore hazchem suits and gas masks during the four-day trial run in Moscow.
Soldiers were seen carrying away ‘victims’ of a nuclear attack while civilians scampered into protective tents.
More than 200,000 emergency service staff are believed to have taken part in the drill.
Capital Moscow’s entire population of 12 million would be able to fit into refurbished underground shelters, Russian authorities confirmed.
The latest footage confirms Western reports about the huge operation, organised in the light of deteriorating conditions between Russia and the West.
The US and Moscow have clashed over President Vladimir Putin’s support for embattled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
A brokered ceasefire collapsed after a UN aid convoy was bombed – with the US placing the blame firmly at Russia’s doorstep.
Russia's military this week unveiled a terrifying new intercontinental nuclear weapon.
The Satan II missile is estimated to posses enough power to destroy an area the size of Texas or France.
It has also sent nuclear-ready Iskander missiles to the enclave of Kaliningrad on the border with Poland.
Only last week Russia sent its ageing North Fleet through the English Channel on the way to Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast.
Former head of the Royal Navy Admiral Lord West dismissed the move as a "bit of willy waving".
Nato responded by announcing the deployment of its armed forces to nations bordering Russia.
Britain will send fighter jets to Romania.
While the US has pledged to send tanks and soldiers to Poland.
The fear that the West is set for war with Russia is being spread throughout media reports and official statements.
One headline on the website Zvezda last week read: "Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow."
