
This newly released video shows the utter devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortly after atomic bombs obliterated the cities in August 1945.

Soviet Union researchers captured the harrowing footage of the flattened Japanese cities around a month after the US bombings took place.

The black-and-white video, which is around five minutes in length, was presented to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in June this year by the chairman of the Russian State Duma, Sergei Naryshkin.

Soviet researchers captured the footage of the flattened Japanese cities around a month after the US bombings took place

The black-and-white video was presented to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in June by the chairman of the Russian State Duma, Sergei Naryshkin

It is the first time the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have obtained footage of the aftermaths captured by the Soviet Union, reported The Asahi Shimbun.

The video is currently being shown at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, as part of a feature exhibition to mark the 71st anniversary of the bombings this month.

The paper reported that the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is also considering broadcasting the footage, which features Russian narration, to the public.

Captured in the video is the sheer destruction caused by the two atomic bombs that landed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively.

It also shows the US Trinity nuclear test on July 16, 1945, the first successful detonation of an atomic weapon, which took place in New Mexico.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum said the panning shots overlooking the destroyed landscape of the city were captured from the Hiroshima Fukokukan building.

It is the first time the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have obtained footage of the aftermaths captured by the Soviet Union

The video is currently being shown at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, as part of a feature exhibition to mark the 71st anniversary of the bombings

Other footage was shot from a postal bank around a mile away.

According to The Asahi Shimbun, officials at the museum estimated that the section of the clip showing the city was captured between late September and November in 1945.

Meanwhile, officials at Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum stated that the portion of the clip showing Nagasaki was captured on September 16, 1945.

The museum added that it is the second earliest known video showing the devastation in the city. Another clip, captured by the US military, shows the flattened landscape at the beginning of September that year.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is considering broadcasting the video, which features Russian narration, to the public

A section of the video showing Nagasaki captures the soviet researchers inspecting the ruins of the destroyed industrial facilities in the city

The video also captures the soviet researchers, who shot the video, inspecting the ruins of the destroyed industrial facilities in Nagasaki.

A staggering 140,000 people were killed when the atomic bomb named Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima by a US B-29 bomber on August 6, 1945 with the intention to end the Second World War.

The impact of the uranium bomb caused the air pressure to drop, crushing those on the ground, as an ominous mushroom cloud rose, towering ten miles above the city.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air as scores of badly injured survivors tried to escape the inferno by diving into the rivers that criss-crossed Hiroshima.

A staggering 140,000 people were killed when the atomic bomb named Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945

The acute effects of the atomic bomb, nicknamed The Fat Man, killed 60,000-80,000 when it was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

For those who survived, there was the terrifying unknown of radiation sickness still to come - cancers, premature births, malformed babies and sudden deaths.

The Hiroshima attack was followed three days later by the Nagasaki bombing, an atomic weapon weighing more than 4,000kg.

Nicknamed The Fat Man, the bomb was dropped by parachute from a US B-29 Bomber and exploded 500m above ground. The acute effects killed 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki.

In the wake of the overpowering twin bombs, Japan surrendered less than a week later, ending the Second World War.