A FULL-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine will spark World War 3, Kiev fears as Moscow test fires its hypersonic nuke missile.

Tensions in Eastern Europe are at boiling point with Vladimir Putin amassing around 100,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border.

Russia staged a new test of its 6,670 mph hypersonic Zircon missile.

The lethal weapon was seen on video fired under a cloak of darkness from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the White Sea hitting a coastal target at the Chizha training ground.

The “unstoppable” Zircon is due to be deployed imminently, first with the Russian Northern Fleet which conducts operations in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, reports say.

Russia had issued NOTAM-warnings (Notice to Airmen) relating to rocket tests in both the White and Barents seas.

Moscow boasts the Mach-9 capable missile can evade all current Western defences.

The Barents Observer highlighted that satellite images show a suspected new storage and maintenance facility for the Zircon at Okolnaya Bay, in the Arctic Murmansk region.

"The trials of the Zircon shipborne missile system are successfully coming to an end,” said chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov .

“These trials proved the possibility of launching this hypersonic missile from both a surface ship and a nuclear-powered submarine from the submerged position.”

Russian President Putin has ordered the Zircon missile to be deployed next year by the Russian Navy boasting that it is “truly unparalleled … in the world”.

Most recently, there was a successful test of the hypersonic weapon from a frigate in the White Sea on November 18.

A month earlier the Zircon was fired from a submarine for the first time.

The Kremlin has started full-scale production of the missile at a top-secret plant near Moscow, it has been reported.

In Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, Russia was “conducting tactical exercises with live
firing “, according to Interfax.

Some of the drills are just 22 miles from the border of the rebel-held Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.

The West has expressed deep concern over the number of Russian forces in Voronezh region.

Separately, in Orenburg region dozens of rocket systems staged a raid in the steppe targeting a simulated enemy.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has insisted that her country has “no aggressive intentions”.

“We have repeatedly said that on our sovereign territory we have every right to move military units at our own discretion,” she said.

But she claimed that NATO “is doing everything to destabilise the situation on the continent and undermine the foundations of European security."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday (December 16) Russia was increasing, not reducing, its military presence on the Ukrainian border.

"We see no sign that this build-up is stopping or slowing down. On the contrary, it continues," he told reporters at NATO headquarters, after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Stoltenberg said there were Russian combat-ready troops, tanks and artillery on the border.

The Kremlin denies any plan to invade Ukraine. It says it has legitimate security interests in the region and on Wednesday handed proposals to the United States that NATO should not expand eastwards or place new weapons systems near Russia's borders.

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Russian invasion of Ukraine will spark World War 3, Kiev fears as Putin fires hypersonic nuke just 22 miles from border
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