The Kremlin has expressed alarm that the Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever.
The Kremlin is concerned by the movement of the Doomsday Clock
The symbolic dial moved its "time" in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight and suggests that humanity is as close as ever to the end of the world.
The Doomsday Clock was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close the world is to ending and the scientists blamed "thinly veiled threats" from Moscow over the use of nuclear weapons for the decision to move the clock forward.
Midnight on the Doomsday Clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation for the human race and the hands are moved close to or further away from midnight based on scientific verdicts of existential threats at a particular point in time.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has expressed alarm over the move but pointed the blame at the United States and NATO.
He told reporters: "The situation as a whole is really alarming."
Peskov said there is little chance of tension between Moscow and the West easing due to "the line that was chosen by NATO under US leadership".
He said: "This imposes on us a duty to be particularly careful, to be alert and to take appropriate measures."
The Bulletin's president had cited warnings from Vladimir Putin and other Russian politicians that Moscow is prepared to use nuclear weapons as a key reason behind the choice to advance the dial.
Rachel Bronson said: "Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk."