NATO warns Russia may have deployed its 'weapon of the Apocalypse' Poseidon. Here's all you need to know

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has warned its members that Russian President Vladimir Putin has deployed Poseidon, a nuclear weapon that is also known as the "weapon of the Apocalypse".

Apparently, over the weekend, NATO issued a warning note that was leaked to Italian Media. As per the note, the doomsday weapon is on its way from its base in the Arctic circle to the Kara Sea.

What did the warning note say?

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As per the note, the Belgorod, a huge nuclear submarine, has gone missing from its home base in the Arctic circle and it may be on its way to test out a destructive, dangerous nuclear weapon called Poseidon.

Watch |'Poseidon': Russia's weapon of apocalypse, NATO concerned over submarine

What is Poseidon?

It is an 'Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo' that is believed to be capable of travelling huge distances underwater.

Poseidon is capable of a detonation that can trigger a 1,600 ft nuclear tsunami that is "designed to drown and irradiate coastal cities" reports Daily Mail.

The next-generation weapon was announced by the Russian president back in 2018. As per Russian media, the doomsday weapon can travel up to 6,000 miles under water. It packs an explosion of two megatonnes. For context, this is more than 130 times the nuclear explosion of "Little Boy", the atomic bomb that wrecked Hiroshima in Japan back in August 1945 during World War II.

Asper Naval News, "It is a giant torpedo which can hit coastal cities with devastating results. Compared to an intercontinental ballistic missile it is very slow, but possibly unstoppable."

Italian publication La Reppubblica quoted an expert HI Sutton as saying that Poseidon "is a completely new category of weapon - which will oblige a change in the planning of the western navies, leading to the definition of new requirements and new means to counter it".

As per Daily Mail, the weapon has never been tested thanks to the international prohibition on testing of nuclear weapons, and if Russia does test it now, this would mark a highly "provocative" move by the nation.

How did Ukraine react to the warning?

Pravda reports that Ukraine, which has for the past few months been facing aggression and destruction at the hands of Russia, has urged the media not to spread disinformation and called the information manipulative.

As per a Facebook post by Ukraine's National Security and Defence of Ukraine [NSDC], "information about the submarine 'Belgorod' can play on the hand of Russian propaganda".

Accusing La Repubblica of "information manipulation", it goes on to say that no such warning has been published on the NATO website, adding, "such unfounded statements by the media only intensify the information terrorism of the Russian Federation".

(With inputs from agencies)

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