VLADIMIR Putin has sealed off a vast stretch of the Arctic Ocean for secret missile test launches in a chilling new warning to the West.
The Russian tyrant has declared huge swathes of sea and airspace “dangerous” along the Northern Sea Route, signalling live missile and rocket firing between October 17 and 30.
Flight trackers spotted a US Navy P-8A Poseidon prowling close to the Northern Fleet’s submarine base in Murmansk as the Kremlin’s latest war games got underway — even though Russia’s defence ministry hasn’t breathed a word about them.
Military watchers believe Putin could be preparing to test his infamous Burevestnik — the so-called “Flying Chernobyl” nuclear-powered cruise missile designed to loiter for days hunting targets before striking.
Hailed in Moscow as a “miracle” and “unstoppable” weapon, the project has faced delays and repeated failures.
It remains unclear if the Arctic drills involve the doomsday-class missile — but the West is watching closely.
The launch window comes as Putin lashes out abroad and faces rising instability at home — all while sending cryptic signals that a deal over Ukraine may be on the table.
Exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky claims the missile manoeuvres and recent Kremlin messaging are part of a calculated push to reshape the war — possibly through a deal with Washington.
“I have the impression that Putin has sent Trump a signal that he is ready for a deal,” Khodorkovsky told Sky News.
“Putin wants to get the whole of Donbas, those parts of it he hasn’t occupied yet,” he said, warning that the dictator may aim to secure territorial gains in eastern Ukraine to “destabilise the situation” in the rest of the country.
The former Yukos boss, who spent more than a decade in a Russian prison and now lives in London, urged Britain and its allies to wake up to the threat — accusing the Foreign Office of losing the deep Russia expertise it once had.
“It would make sense for the UK to also have a dialogue with people who have the knowledge and expertise and who are natural allies of the British government,” he said.
Despite Kremlin attempts to silence him — including new charges he fears could lead to violence even abroad — Khodorkovsky insists ending the war must remain the priority.
“Stopping this war… would be much more important than waiting another few years for Putin to leave the stage.”
Hours after President Donald Trump declared the Kremlin despot “wants to end the war,” missiles rained down across Ukraine in a brutal overnight bombardment.
Russian forces blitzed Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia, torching a civilian food warehouse and levelling homes and offices in a fresh wave of terror.
All this came despite Trump’s two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Putin and his plea to “stop right now at the battle line.”
“They should stop the war immediately… both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it,” Trump said.
“I think he wants to end the war. I spoke to him for two and a half hours… He wants to get it ended.”
But Putin’s missiles told a different story.
Ukraine struck back in the Black Sea, blasting a Russian marine drone “threatening civilian shipping” into a fireball.
In Crimea, a Ukrainian drone strike turned the Gvardeyskoye oil depot into a raging inferno, deepening fuel shortages on the peninsula.
Even as Kyiv pleaded for Tomahawk cruise missiles, Trump blocked the request — citing fears of “dangerous escalation” — though he hinted the offer could return if Putin refuses to back down.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over without talking about Tomahawks,” Trump said.
Zelensky, fresh from his White House visit, stressed that Kyiv cannot end the conflict alone.
“We have to stop where we are… the president is right… I agree with the president,” he said.
“Both sides have to stop but with us it’s about Putin – because we didn’t begin this war.”
Back in Russia, chaos erupted overnight as an explosion ripped through the Avangard explosives plant in Sterlitamak, killing three and wounding nine in a suspected sabotage attack — the second mysterious blast there since August.
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Sochi endured a second night of sirens and explosions, sending terrified tourists scrambling for shelters, while a Ukrainian drone strike on the Veshkayma substation in Ulyanovsk caused power grid chaos.
Trump, who recently brokered a Gaza ceasefire, is now preparing for a high-stakes meeting with Putin in Hungary aimed at ending what he called “this inglorious war.”