Russian President Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting of his Secruity Council on Monday amid fears he's planning severe reprisals after the bombing of Kerch Bridge.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council"
The Council comprises of 12 of some of the most powerful people in Russia, including top state officials and heads of defence and security agencies such as the director of the FSB, Aleksandr Bortnikov.
This comes just days after a blast destroyed a section of the Kerch Bridge, a vital piece of Russian infrastructure that connects Crimea with mainland Russia.
General Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the Army, said he would expect Russia to escalate with indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian civilian targets and that there was also the threat that Mr Putin “might go nuclear”.
Ukainian media has reported a dozen fatalities with scores injured when the suspected truck bomb exploded, taking with it a large portion of the 12-mile bridge.
Western powers fear the tyrant will be enraged and want revenge for the destruction of the bridge, which he personally opened in a ceremony in 2018.
Warning of dire consequences, the Kremlin leader has previously said any attack on the Kerch Strait would spark "judgment day".
The bridge, which at 19km is the longest in Europe, was hailed by Russian state media as "the construction of the century". Costing £2.7bn, Russia claimed it was protected from threats from air, land and water using a range of defences even including specially trained dolphins.
As the conflict drags on, many fear Putin will unleash more deadly weaponry such as chemical weapons or tactical nuclear strikes.
The US has splashed out $290m in buying up a drug used to treat radiation sickness.
President Biden has described as the highest nuclear risk since 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. But, the government said that the purchase of Nplate pills was nothing to do with it.
A spokesperson for the Human Services Department (HSS) in Washington, who announced the decision, told The Daily Telegraph: "This is part of our ongoing work for preparedness and radiological security. It has not been accelerated by the situation in Ukraine."
Nplate pills are used to treat acute radiation syndrome (ARS), one of the most dangerous threats caused by nuclear blasts.
Vladimir Putin indicated he is prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, and the tension has been ramped up by his annexation of four regions of Ukraine where heavy fighting is taking place.
Another of Putin's close allies, propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, called for Ukraine to be battered back to "dark times" for blowing up Putin's precious bridge - by bringing back a nefarious Soviet-era intelligence agency infamous for killing innocent civilians.
He said: "It's time to remember Soviet military training and act decisively and creatively.
"Not responding to the enemy's actions, but breaking their plans, striking unexpected blows in directions where the enemy is not expecting them.
"Ukraine should be plunged into dark times. Bridges, dams, railways, thermal power plants and other infrastructure facilities should be destroyed throughout Ukraine.
"The country should switch to a military mode - entirely. This should include SMERSH making a return."
"Everything for the front, everything for victory," he adds.
SMERSH - which translates to "Death to Spies" - was the umbrella organisation of three intelligence agencies that was controlled and answered directly to the Red Army and Stalin himself.
In the wake of the bridge bombing, Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killing dozens of people.
"Overnight, the Russian occupiers cynically struck the residential buildings and civil infrastructure," Ukraine's military central command said on its Facebook page.
"Information about victims is being confirmed, but it is already known about dozens of dead or injured."
The city is about 125 km (80 miles) from a Russian-held nuclear power plant that is Europe's largest.
Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for shelling at the Ukrainian-operated facility, which has damaged buildings and threatens a catastrophic nuclear accident.
Local Ukrainian news sites claimed 49 people had been hospitalised, including six children, as the rockets targeted residential high-rises and private houses.
Zolochiv.net said: "A 9-story building was partially destroyed. Five private houses were destroyed.
"Affected infrastructure objects. 20 cars were damaged."
Russian forces have committed to ramping up secuirty on the bridge following the attack.
Putin ordered the country's Federal Security Service (FSB) to oversee the key crossing.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin ordered the destroyed sections to be taken down, and said inspections of the damage below the waterline will start Sunday morning.
According to reports from Crimea, a 6km queue has developed of people wanting to cross.
