The Russian President spoke to youngsters at a festival in Sochi about the prospect of mass-killing supermen who are incapable of feeling pain or compassion

VLADIMIR Putin has claimed genetically-modified super soldiers "worse than a nuclear bomb" could soon become a reality.

The strongman Russian President spoke to a crowd of students about the prospect of an army of trained killers incapable of feeling "pain or fear" much like the characters in 1992 action movie Universal Soldier.

He revealed that scientists are close to breaking the genetic code which would enable them to create "a human with pre-designed characteristics".