Stark new details have emerged of Vladimir Putin's poisoning laboratories where he hones toxic substances to kill his enemies.

Experiments are conducted on humans in a sprawling network of secretive structures highlighting the evil underpinning his repressive rule.

Investigative outlet Proekt revealed a staggering 3,500 people are employed on the Putin regime's poison programmes.

Among the operations based on deadly toxins from this warped empire were the 2018 Novichok attack on ex-GRU spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK - and later poisoning of Putin political foe Alexei Navalny.

At the network's centre is a little-known scientific hub in Moscow called Signal, created on Putin's direct order in 2010.

According to leaked staffing data, the 500-strong centre is capable of synthesising deadly toxins, studying how to evade detection, testing substances on animals and humans, developing delivery systems and 'gene editing.'

The sinister institute is run by a mix of senior scientists and security officials - including a former FSB officer - with reported links to operatives involved in high-profile poisonings.

Proekt claims the centre works closely with civilian institutions including Moscow State University and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The head of Signal - Artur Zhirov, a specialist in the analytical chemistry of toxic substances - previously worked at the 27th Scientific Centre of the Ministry of Defence and the 33rd Central Institute of the MoD.

Signal links directly to the Military Medicine Research Institute (GNIIM VM MO), the sole MoD entity authorised since 2015 to conduct human experiments on 'healthy soldier-volunteers.'

There, Director Sergei Chepur oversees tests of artillery shells (122/300 mm), nerve-affecting drugs, and protective gear in a 100-bed clinic.

The 'volunteer' servicemen were allegedly exposed to artillery blast effects, experimental drugs and extreme physiological stress.

The unashamed aim, according to internal writings, is to determine how best to 'destroy or disable enemy personnel.'

Human guinea pigs reportedly suffered neurological disruption, blood pressure spikes and cognitive impairment during trials.

Chepur advised the GRU military intelligence officers behind the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury.

While the Skripals miraculously survived, a local British woman Dawn Sturgess, 44, was killed after coming into contact with the Novichok.

Another part of the poisoning empire is the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology at Shikhany, 530 miles southeast of Moscow.

Experts warn that even if labelled 'voluntary,' such experiments raise serious ethical concerns due to the pressures of military hierarchy.

Proekt alleges the system forms a state-directed toxicology complex, combining poison development, detection, and countermeasures under the oversight of Russia's security services.

The Kremlin has not commented on the claims.

If confirmed, the findings would point to one of the most extensive modern programmes of weapons-focused human experimentation linked to a state security apparatus echoing sinister operations in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.