Russia has released a video declaring its nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles have entered active service in Belarus, its neighbouring ally which also shares a border with Nato countries Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Putin has claimed the weapons are impossible to intercept because the missile speeds are supposedly more than 10 times the speed of sound.

The move could feasibly allow Russian nuclear missiles to reach European targets faster, if stored at a base in Belarus. Intermediate missiles have a range of around 5,500km (3,415 missiles) which mean they could strike anywhere in Europe or the US’s west coast from Russia.