Putin greets kids, views ‘nuclear button’ as re-election bid nears

President Vladimir Putin was shown a simulation of the "nuclear button" but declined to press it on Monday as he toured a vast exhibition of Russian achievements in what looked like a warm-up for an imminent re-election campaign. Putin was given an explanation of a Soviet nuclear bomb design and shown a mock control panel for launching a nuclear test, before observing images of a blast and mushroom cloud through a viewing window. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin has frequently reminded the West of the size and capabilities of Russia's nuclear arsenal, saying anyone who tried to launch a nuclear attack against it would be wiped from the face of the earth.