Vladimir Putin has issued a warning to the West after testing a mysterious “nuclear” missile.

Footage shows the experimental nuclear-capable intercontinental missile launch from a test range in the Astrakhan region of Russia.

The Kremlin has refused to disclose the type of missile launched from Kapustin Yar but it was carried out as part of a state testing programme.

‌The Russian defence ministry said: “The launch objectives were completed in full.”

It was launched yesterday, April 12 – Russia’s annual Cosmonautics Day which commemorates the world’s first space flight made by Yury Gagarin in 1961.

A launch on the same day one year ago was believed to be a test of a new version of Putin’s Topol range – known for now as Topol-ME.

Yesterday, residents of the Astrakhan, Dagestan and Volgograd regions noticed unusual white traces in the sky.

It is destined to be the largest missile in Putin’s nuclear arsenal, described as an “unstoppable” apocalypse 208-ton intercontinental silo-launched 15,880mph weapon, the size of a 14-storey tower block.

Before properly going into service it is expected to be tested over the South Pole.

Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported last month: “The Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant is experiencing a serious shortage of electronic components….for production of strategic missiles.

“The electronics of the new RS 28 [Sarmat] missile system are largely of foreign origin and, due to sanctions, [they] are experiencing a serious shortage.

“Now all efforts are being made to somehow correct the situation with the supply of sanctioned electronics.”