The Russian fleet will “in the coming months” acquire a new Zircon hypersonic cruise missile that “knows no obstacles,” President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday amid Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
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The Russian fleet “is capable of inflicting a lightning reaction on anyone who decides to undermine our sovereignty and freedom,” Mr Putin assured during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg (northwest), stressing that its military equipment “is subject of continuous improvement”.
In particular, he cited the “state-of-the-art Zircon hypersonic missiles that know no obstacles.” “Their delivery to the Russian armed forces will begin in the coming months,” Putin said.
With a maximum range of about a thousand kilometers, the Zircon cruise missiles are one of a family of new weapons being developed by Russia that Putin has described as “invincible.” Their trials have been running since October 2020.
According to Vladimir Putin, the Admiral Gorchkov frigate will be the first Russian ship to be equipped with these missiles, while this ship’s area of operations will be chosen according to “Russia’s security interests”.
“The Fatherland is a sacred concept for all of us, and defending it is a duty and the meaning of life for each of us,” added the Kremlin master.
Putin oversaw the naval parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday, which brought more than 40 ships and submarines and some 3,500 military personnel to the former imperial capital on Russian Fleet Day, which is celebrated across the country.
But celebrations in Sevastopol, in Russia-annexed Crimea, were canceled after a drone strike on Sunday morning targeted Russian Black Sea Fleet personnel, injuring six people.
The attack has been blamed by local authorities on “Ukrainian nationalists” as Russia faces a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kherson region near Crimea.
Ukraine has denied its involvement in this attack.