A RUSSIAN newspaper fears a Third World War with the US over Syria.

Tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets predicts a "direct military confrontation" on par with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

5 Putin and Obama shared a tense handshake at the G20 meeting in China Credit: Getty Images

5 The US suspended relations with Russia over air strikes in Syria Credit: AP:Associated Press

5 A Russian TU-95 bomber flies through airspace northwest of Okinoshima Credit: Reuters

The US suspended contact with Russia over Syria on Monday.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been enraged by airstrikes on rebel-controlled areas of Aleppo.

Hundreds of innocents are believed to have been killed in the attacks.

BBC Russia correspondent Steve Rosenberg referred to two Russian newspapers taking an aggressive tone towards the US.

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In one article headlined 'The stakes are higher than Syria', the paper Moskovsky Komsomolets warns of a potential new war.

It states: "Just imagine that the US does what it has wanted to do for a long time and strike against Assad, not by mistake but on purpose and openly.

"Should Russia defend its ally or consider striking against the Americans but this would definitely lead to a Third World War.

"Russia can win big in Syria but it can also lose big too. We must not forget that in Syria we are playing an astonishingly risky game."

Moskovsky Komsomolets adds that even its country's own fighters would not be confident in a war with the US.

"According to our fighter pilots, the best we could do is shoot down a few coalition forces but this would mean a full-scale war," it added.

5 The Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets discusses the potential war with the US

5 Fighter jets of the Russkiye Vityazi [Russian Knights] aerobatic team perform during an air show Credit: Getty Images

Veteran broadcaster Vladimir Pozner told the BBC

: "There's a real feeling now that America is out to prove it is the only superpower.

"The continued expansion of Nato is seen by the Russian leadership, perhaps incorrectly, is seen as being a real threat.

"There is a danger of real confrontation, perhaps leading to some kind of military engagement and war."

It has previously been reported that Putin is preparing for war with the West.

Russia is already staging a massive evacuation drill to prepare for nuclear war.

More than 200,000 emergency services personnel and soldiers will use 50,000 pieces of equipment during the civil defence exercise.

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