Russians are furious after Ukraine destroyed an important ammunition depot in Russia earlier this week, with locals in the Tver Oblast of Russia taking aim at officials

The ally warned about a nuclear response following Ukraine's counteroffensive into Kursk, stating that Russia already has a "basis to start a nuclear war".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with Kyiv's allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles deep into Russian territory.

Rightly embarrassed, Putin ordered the Kremlin to recapture Kursk by Oct. 1. And on Wednesday, Russian troops dutifully launched a counterattack along the western edge of the Ukrainian salient. “Russia's counteroffensive to drive Ukrainians out of the Kursk region has officially begun,” Finnish analyst Joni Askola announced.

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday that a nuclear war would ensue if they gave the green light for Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Ukraine said it destroyed a large weapons stockpile in Russia overnight using long-range drones to stage the attack as Kyiv awaits US permission to use western-made missiles in such operations.

Vladimir Putin is 'fully ready' to detonate a nuclear bomb in the Arctic and take the world down a path it has not trodden since the Cold War, Kremlin officials have warned