Vladimir Putin wins PEACE prize after bombing Aleppo and moving nuke missiles to European border
VLADIMIR Putin has been awarded an international peace prize after causing devastation in Aleppo and shipping nuclear-capable missiles to the European border.
The Russian President has become the first winner of the Hugo Chavez prize - an award invented by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro described the Russian belligerent as a "fighter for peace" after stating he would receive the prize for "peace and sovereignty".
"I think President Vladimir Putin deserves this Hugo Chavez award," he added.
The award was announced at the same time as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end a 52-year conflict that has seen 260,000 people killed.
It comes after claims that Putin secretly deployed nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles to European territories, according to Estonian media.
Reports say Moscow sent a ship loaded with the deadly projectile system to Kaliningrad, a small Russian enclave located between Poland and Lithuania.
Estonian media claim the highly-advanced weapons system is being transported on a civilian ship in a bid to go undetected by the West.
The powerful missile system is far beyond anything possessed by the West.
It is capable of striking targets 310 miles away and is designed to carry nuclear weapons, meaning Putin's reach across the NATO-aligned eastern European states will be vastly expanded.
The powerful missile system is far beyond anything possessed by the West.
It is capable of striking targets 310 miles away and is designed to carry nuclear weapons, meaning Putin's reach across the NATO-aligned eastern European states will be vastly expanded.
Estonia's minister of defence, Hannes Hanso, refused to be drawn on the reports when contacted by ERR.
But he added: "But it’s certainly true that we have reason to keep our eyes open in the air, on the water, and everywhere else."
A US intelligence official has confirmed the reports and suggested Russia was playing war games prior to the election of a new US president.
"They moved a similar missile system to Kaliningrad in 2014 for a military exercise. It could also be a political gesture - a show of strength - to express displeasure with NATO," the official said.
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Putin has also been ruffling feathers among the international community over Russian intervention in Syria.
Aleppo, Syria's largest city, has been reduced to rubble in recent months and faces "total destruction" if bombing and conflict continues, according to the UN's envoy.
Staffan de Mistura told reporters in "two-and-a-half months the city of eastern Aleppo at this rate may be totally destroyed".
He appealed to Russia and Syria's government to not ruin the city for the sake of eliminating militants.
Ceasefire negotiations have fallen apart in recent days, leading to increased tensions between Russia and the US.
US Secretary of State John Kerry launched a blistering attack accusing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of living in a "parallel universe".
The intense exchange took place on a world stage at the UN Security Council last Wednesday after two attacks on medical convoys in Syria.
A Syrian aid worker holds the body of a child after he was pulled from the rubble following an air strike
Putin is set to receive a small version of a Venezuelan statue erected in honour of Hugo Chavez for his supposed contributions to world peace.
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