FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Secretary General of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, said the allied nations are putting hundreds of thousands of troops in a state of high alert in an effort to deter a mounting threat from Moscow. While Nato cut its defence budget and military investment since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been bolstering its military capabilities, holding parades involving more than 100,000 troops each year.

GETTY Nato is said to be preparing a military force of up to 300,000

Mr Stoltenberg said: “We have seen Russia being much more active in many different ways. “We have seen a more assertive Russia implementing a substantial military build-up over many years; tripling defence spending since 2000 in real terms; developing new military capabilities; exercising their forces and using military force against neighbours.

Inside the Russian Army Mon, January 9, 2017 A look inside the powerful Russian Army. Play slideshow REX/Shutterstock 1 of 50 Russian Special Forces: Exercises include taking full-force punches in the chest from their commanding officers without flinching

He told the Times: “We have also seen Russia using propaganda in Europe among Nato allies and that is exactly the reason why Nato is responding. We are responding with the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.” Adam Thomson, the outgoing permanent representative to Nato, estimates that at present, it would take the military alliance 180 days to deploy a force of 300,000, and that speeding up this rate is of top importance. The measures come in response to Russia flexing its military might abroad, allegedly conducting cyber attacks on Washington and holding nuclear war drills at home. Last week, Moscow was seen as deliberately antagonising Nato by sending hundreds of paratroopers to a Serbian airbase despite Nato holding disaster relief exercises just 150 miles away in Montenegro.

GETTY Putin held military drills just 150 miles from Nato exercises in Montenegro last week

Putin's decision to hold military drills so close to Nato's emergency exercises in Montenegro - which went ahead despite Moscow's drills - was seen as a brazen stand-off between both sides. Igor Sutyagin, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, said: "Russia wants to show that it can intimidate NATO… and NATO is saying to Russia, 'If you show up, we'll be there as well'." Meanwhile, Russian authorities have been accused of attempting to pervert the democratic process of the US presidential election by hacking into Democrat emails and sharing findings with vigilante publishers such as WikiLeaks and DC Leaks.

GETTY Jens Stoltenberg, head of Nato, warns of the threat Russia poses