On top of almost two years of brutal warfare a leaked military report yesterday showed the despot’s step-by-step plane to bring the West to the brink of World War Three.

The secret documents described Putin’s possible “path to conflict” which reaches its climax in 2025 on “Day X” when half a million Nato and Russian soldiers face each other.

The bombshell files, obtained by Bild from Germany’s Ministry of Defence, lay out exactly how the Kremlin boss might be preparing for a hybrid attack on Nato as early as next winter and a full-blown war next summer.

[This is oddly buried in a report about a speech given by UK Defence Minister Grant Shapps. Seems a bit more important than Shapps’ plea for more spending on defense, even in the context of a threat on NATO. — Ed]