As Russian troops flee in disarray ahead of a rapid Ukrainian advance, an ex-NATO chief has warned that Vladimir Putin could unleash his nuclear arsenal in desperation.

Rose Gottemoeller, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, says that as Russia ’s army crumbles, Putin could go to extreme lengths to hang on to his authority.

She said: “I fear that they will strike back now in really unpredictable ways, and ways that may even involve weapons of mass destruction.”

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Ms Gottemoeller told the BBC that the move would be designed to “strike terror not only into the hearts of the Ukrainians but also the global partners and allies”.

Former US national security adviser John Bolton also sees the danger of Putin resorting to desperate measures.

"My view has been that [a nuclear attack] was extremely unlikely,” Bolton told LBC, “and the only circumstances I could foresee where he would use battlefield or tactical nuclear weapons, [would be] if Russian troops are in wholesale retreat heading back to the borders of Russia."

He says that while we are not be quite at that point after this most recent Ukrainian offensive we're not at that point after this most recent Ukraine offensive, the campaign has been a "military catastrophe for the Russian army”.

He added: “I do think, to try and reestablish some aspect of a position of strength to the Russians, it does become somewhat more likely now of a possible nuclear use."

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  Russian soldiers fled 'like Olympic sprinters' as Ukraine took land back

As recently as last month, Putin admitted that "no one" could win a nuclear war, saying: "We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community."

But a recent Ministry of Defence report says that Russia’s losses in Ukraine have crippled its armed forces and set them back for years.

Russia had already lost some 80,000 troops, either killed, captured, injured or to desertion, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.

That embarrassing defeat is rumoured to have led to moves against Putin already being made within the Kremlin, with many of his closest allies meeting sudden deaths over the past few months, the Russian leader may decide to take extreme action to cling on to power.

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