THIS IS HOW WW3 STARTS

Yes, those really ARE Russian tanks on British soil . . . as our boys prepare in deadly earnest to face up to Putin in Estonia

IT IS the terrible moment the world has long feared. An army of Russian tanks and troops rolls across the border of a Baltic state in an act of naked aggression by Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Britain, the US and other Western nations are obliged by treaty to come to the defence of a fellow Nato member.

Within hours, the escalating conflict is poised on the precipice of a nuclear conflict that will claim millions of lives.

This is the chilling scenario simulated by the British Army in one of the most realistic war games ever staged, revealed in these exclusive photographs obtained by The Mail on Sunday.

Our dramatic pictures show the incredibly life-like exercise on Salisbury Plain, intended to simulate President Putin’s forces invading Estonia, according to Army sources.

Taking part were troops due to be deployed early next year to shore up Nato forces in the Baltic states. Every detail was as close as possible to those British soldiers will experience if Putin goes into Estonia.

The enemy wore distinctive blue uniforms resembling Russian military police outfits and were equipped with AK-74 semi-automatic assault rifles issued to Russian troops. The ‘Russians’ launched a tank assault using the T-72, a model recently upgraded by the Kremlin at £20 million per tank. As well as the Polish-built T-72 there were three other Soviet-design tanks, supplied by a private collector and the Tank Museum.

UK forces responded with missile strikes from Apache helicopter gunships and bursts of fire from Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. Challenger tanks patrolled the battlefield and RAF Tornados performed mock bombing runs. The Ministry of Defence confirmed some of the troops are expected to deploy to Estonia. The 400 UK soldiers will be within range of thousands of Russian troops and nuclear-capable missiles at Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.

Due to Army cuts, the MoD used a recruitment agency to find civilians to play enemy troops for the exercise. Gurkhas also became ‘enemies’.

A defence source said: ‘The idea was to simulate elements of Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, which included a rapid seizure of territory which led to the annexing of Crimea.’

The UK troops will be part of the biggest Nato deployment in the Baltic region since the Cold War. It comes after Russian military manoeuvres in areas bordering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Some fear that Putin wants to test the West after US President-elect Donald Trump questioned the Nato alliance.