Britain’s new £3.2billion aircraft carrier has stocked up on ammunition and increased its ‘readiness’ after a Ukrainian military chief claimed ‘World War Three had begun’.

HMS Prince of Wales sailed into Glenmallen on Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute in Scotland, as tensions between the West and Russia threaten to boil over.

Posting on X, the 65,000-tonne ship’s official account wrote: ‘We have arrived into Glen Mallan to uplift our ammunition and increase our readiness.’

Defence sources were quick to stress the £3.2billion warship’s arrival at the Scottish military hub was part of a pre-planned exercise ahead of its global deployment next year and ‘not in response to Russian aggression’.

However, it comes amid a chilling claim by a Ukrainian military chief that the world was already in the middle of an all-out conflict, as the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated to new, terrifying heights this week.

Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin threatened to blitz UK and US military facilities, after British and American-made missiles were used by Kyiv to strike targets deep in Russian territory.

In a televised address last night, the despot said his war in Ukraine was escalating towards a global conflict following the decision to allow British Storm Shadow missiles and American ATACMS rockets to be used to strike inside Russia.

He then warned the West that Moscow could devastatingly strike back – amid claims the Kremlin was already planning a savage strike on Kyiv’s Parliament building.

Meanwhile, General Valery Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s envoy to the United Kingdom, told the UP100 award ceremony in Kyiv: ‘I believe that in 2024 we can absolutely believe that the Third World War has begun.’

The military chief said that as of this year, ‘Ukraine is no longer facing Russia. Soldiers from North Korea are standing in front of Ukraine.’

Putin has already leaned on his autocratic allies, North Korea, Iran and China, to back his invasion of eastern bloc neighbour, which this week marked its 1,000th day since the war erupted.

Around North Korean 10,000 soldiers have been sent by Pyongyang to fight alongside Russian troops in the Kursk region, as Moscow aims to replenish its forces and reclaim the territory taken from it three months ago.

Zaluzhny went on to highlight the support Putin’s armies had received from Tehran, which has sent thousands of Shahed attack drones to Moscow and also assisted it with the technology to build the drones itself, according to reports.

More than 8,000 Iranian-developed drones have been launched since the war began two-and-a-half years ago, Kyiv said in September, with many targeting civilian homes as well as military targets.

‘Let’s be honest. Already in Ukraine, the Iranian “Shahedis” are killing civilians absolutely openly, without any shame,’ Zaluzhny said, adding that Chinese and North Korean weapons were also being used against his country.

It comes after Moscow’s ambassador to the UK declared that Britain is now ‘directly involved’ in the war after Kyiv’s Storm Shadow attack on Russian territory this week.

Asked if the UK is ‘at war’, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told BBC local radio: ‘We’re not at war, but Ukraine certainly is.’ The PM also slammed Putin’s ‘irresponsible rhetoric’.

‘Russia is the aggressor,’ he said. ‘This war could end today if Putin stopped being the aggressor.’

Meanwhile, a top British defence chief declared the nation’s military would be ready to fight Vladimir Putin’s forces ‘tonight’ if Russia were to invade another European nation in addition to Ukraine.

Lieutenant General Sir Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the British defence staff, told the House of Commons defence committee yesterday afternoon: ‘If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight.

‘I don’t think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded Eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight.’

However, the veteran Royal Marine commando’s declaration belies the state of the UK’s military capabilities.

In May, he acknowledged that Britain’s soldiers would run out of ammunition and equipment in a war against Putin’s Russia in less than two months.

Meanwhile, HMS Prince of Wales and her sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, faced uncertainty this week over claims one of the mighty vessels could be ‘mothballed’.

The vessels are the biggest ever built for the Navy and cost more than £6billion, with the first commissioned in 2017. Together, they are meant to have a 50-year lifespan.

But the Ministry of Defence and Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s department are understood to have had a discussion about what military kit could be cut as part of the upcoming strategic defence review – with the carriers’ future reportedly raised.

On Thursday, Defence Secretary John Healey was forced to address the rumours during a hearing of parliament’s defence committee.

Quizzed on whether one of the aircraft carriers would be mothballed as part of a major review of the military, Mr Healey said: ‘They are under scrutiny but not in jeopardy.

‘The decisions that will be have to take are those that we will take but in light of the reviewers’ analysis when they come to report.’

His comments came after his shock announcement on Wednesday that five warships – including two landing platforms and one frigate – were to be axed as part of a sweeping defence overhaul to save the MoD £500million.

In a shocking move which sent alarming signals to the Kremlin, 31 frontline helicopters and a pair of Commando assault ships were axed.

While despite the domination of drones on the Ukrainian battlefield, the UK is to lose a staggering 46 Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

A Royal Navy frigate HMS Northumberland and a pair of ‘fast fleet tankers’, which provide fuel for aircraft carriers, are also being chopped as part of the jaw-dropping plans.

The decision by Defence Secretary was met by shock and fury, with sources saying the cuts delivered entirely the wrong message to Britain’s enemies and allies such as the United States.

The timing was also challenged as it coincides with the US ramping up its support for Ukraine – and as other NATO members are boosting their military capabilities.

One senior naval figure remarked: ‘Try telling Donald Trump these helicopters and ships were getting old and were costing more to repair, he’ll only hear that Britain is making cuts’.

Announcing the cuts in Parliament, Mr Healey told MPs: ‘Today, with the full backing of our service chiefs I can confirm that six outdated capabilities will be taken out of service.

‘These decisions are set to save the Ministry of Defence £150 million in pounds over two years and up to £500 million over five years. Savings that will be retained, in full, in defence.

‘HMS Northumberland’s structural damage made her uneconomical to repair. The 46 Watchkeeper Mk 1s, a 14-year-old Army drone which technology had overtaken.

‘HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, landing ships both effectively retired by previous ministers but superficially kept on the books at a cost of £9 million a-year.

‘Fourteen Chinooks, some over 35-years-old, accelerated out of service, two ‘Wave Class’ tankers nobody had seen for years and 17 Puma helicopters, some with over 50 years’ flying, will not be extended.

‘Sadly, these will not be the last difficult decisions I am required to take.’