Russia has reportedly sent three planes carrying hypersonic missiles to an exclave between two NATO members for around-the-clock combat duty amid fears of war between the alliance and President Vladimir Putin’s army.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the MiG-31 planes are now based at the Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad region “as part of the implementation of additional strategic deterrent measures,” Russia’s state news agency Ria Novosti reported.
This means that the aircraft armed with their hypersonic Kinzhal missiles are now close to NATO borders. Kaliningrad, which shares no borders with Russia but is nevertheless part of its territory, is wedged between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
Putin has not publicly announced any plans to attack NATO, but he has warned that any countries that “pose a strategic threat to Russia” during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war may face “retaliatory strikes.” Russian state television and the Russian president’s allies have repeatedly urged a confrontation with NATO and even nuclear strikes against the alliance, raising concerns about a nuclear war that scientists say could kill billions.
A Russian Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter jet is presented at the air show during the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon July 20, 2021 in Zhukovskiy outside Moscow, Russia. Russia has reportedly sent three planes carrying hypersonic missiles to an exclave between two NATO members for around-the-clock combat duty amid fears of an all-out war between the military alliance and President Vladimir Putin’s army. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC, the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles housed with the MiG-31s in Kaliningrad are nuclear-capable and air-launched. In 2018, Russia reportedly sent Iskander missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad.
As Russia increases its presence of nuclear-capable weapons in Kaliningrad, NATO works to strengthen and protect its eastern flank. Last week, the US Mission to NATO announced that soldiers from a US Air Assault Division, who arrived in Europe at the end of July, were dispatched to NATO members Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia to “reassure our allies and our… deter opponents”.
This month, NATO announced that its surveillance aircraft and fighter jets would patrol around the clock to protect member countries’ airspace. The alliance shared a video on Twitter, saying it was working to protect its allies’ skies in Eastern Europe “by flying more jets from air bases and aircraft carriers across the alliance” and “bringing in additional deterrence and defense capabilities.”
The video says NATO is providing a “permanent defense presence and airspace surveillance” over Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, all located on or near NATO’s eastern flank near Russia. Estonia and Latvia border Russia.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry and NATO for comment.