Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unanticipated trip to eastern Ukraine last week, where he was photographed holding a nuclear briefcase, as reported by RadarOnline.com. The 70-year-old leader traveled by helicopter to Kherson to visit Russian troops engaged in frontline combat.

The Kremlin released a heavily edited video of Putin's visit on Tuesday, as disclosed by The Sun. While the exact date of the visit remains uncertain, it is believed to have taken place before the Orthodox Easter holiday on Sunday.

"The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation visited the headquarters of the Dnipro grouping of troops in the Kherson direction and the headquarters of the Vostok National Guard in the Luhansk People's Republic," stated the Kremlin, accompanying the footage released on Tuesday.

More startling were the images of Putin disembarking from his helicopter in Kherson while carrying a briefcase later identified as the Kremlin's nuclear briefcase, known as the Cheget. Similar to the "nuclear football" employed by the US president in the event of a potential nuclear attack, the Cheget is under 24-hour surveillance by Russian armed guards and uses a personalized key code known only to Putin and a select few Kremlin officials.

Putin's display of the nuclear briefcase in Kherson, coupled with his recent order to conduct nuclear air drills in eastern Ukraine, has raised concerns that he may be planning to intensify the ongoing conflict in the region. As previously reported by RadarOnline.com, Putin also recently stationed ten aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons in Belarus.

"We agreed with [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the non-proliferation regime," Putin announced to the Russian media in March.

The potential for a nuclear escalation in Ukraine comes shortly after US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines predicted that Moscow would become "even more reliant" on nuclear weapons, as the Russian military is being "crushed."

Haines commented in March on the possibility of Putin using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, saying, "We do think that could be the case in the event that he perceives that he is losing the war in Ukraine."