Back from hiatus, Putin says he was Ready to Put Nuclear Weapons on Alert in Crimea Crisis.

 Vladimir Putin was ready to put Russia's nuclear weapons on alert last year during Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"We were ready to do this," Mr Putin said in comments shown as part of a Russian state TV documentary on the one-year anniversary of Crimea's annexation.

"[Crimea] is our historical territory. These are our Russian people there. We couldn't abandon them and leave them in danger."

Mr Putin said that Moscow had been prepared to use any military means necessary to defend Crimea against "the nationalists" in Kiev and their "puppet masters": the US government.