The Russian fleet will be equipped with a new Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile “in the coming months”Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this Sunday, in full offensive in Ukraine.
The Russian fleet “is capable of inflicting a withering response on all those who decide to attack our sovereignty and freedom,” Putin assured during the naval parade in St. Petersburgstressing that its military equipment “is constantly being improved.”
The president cited, among others, the “ultramodern hypersonic missiles Tsirkon that do not have any obstacles” and “has no analogues in the world”, pointing out that the range of such rockets is practically unlimited.
With a maximum range of about 1,000 kilometers, the Tsirkon cruise missiles belong to a family of new weapons developed by Russia that Putin describes as “invincible”. They have been tested since October 2020.
“Its delivery to the Russian armed forces will begin in the coming months.“, accurate.
According to Putin, the Amiral Gorchkov frigate will be the first Russian military equipment to have these missiles. He added that the ship’s deployment zone would be chosen based on “Russia’s security interests.”
Marked new red lines
Putin supervised this Sunday the naval parade in St. Petersburg that brought together more than 40 ships and submarines and some 3,500 military personnel in this former imperial capital on the occasion of the Day of the Russian Fleet, widely celebrated throughout the country.
“The Motherland is a sacred notion for all of us, and defending it is a duty and the meaning of life for each of us,” the Kremlin leader added.
The head of the Kremlin marked new red lines to the West in the Black, Baltic and Arctic seas with the approval of a new naval doctrineinfluenced by the geopolitical changes caused by the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
“We have openly marked the borders and areas of Russia’s national interests, both economic and strategic, which are vital”, he assured. “Mainly, it is about our arctic zone, the waters of the Black, Okhotsk, and Bering Seas, and the Baltic and Kurile Straits. (…) We will guarantee your defense firmly and by all means”he underlined.
The document, according to its authors, will allow Russia expand its naval potential by speeding up the mobilization of resources in charge of the Navywhich will include civilian ships and their crews, as well as the use of maritime infrastructure in times of war.
The signing ceremony of the new doctrine took place in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg after the head of the Kremlin launched the naval stop in the former tsarist capital and the island of Kronstadt. “Greetings comrades! I congratulate you on Navy Day!” Putin said aboard the boat with which he sailed through the waters of the Gulf of Finland accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
According to the Kremlin, more than 40 ships, submarines and boats, 42 planes and more than 3,500 soldiers participate in Sunday’s naval parade, although similar events are held in other ports such as the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
Since the beginning of the military intervention in the neighboring country, the Russian fleet has played an active role in attacking Ukrainian territory with missiles.
In April, Russia suffered its greatest setback with the sinking at the hands of Ukraine of the flagship of its fleet in the Black Sea, the Moskva missile cruiser, where some thirty sailors would have died.
In Sevastopol, in Russian-annexed Crimea, the festivities were canceled after a drone attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters left six injured. Local authorities accused “Ukrainian nationalists” of carrying out the attack, but Ukraine denied this.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
KEEP READING:
Why the battle for Kherson may be the key to morally destroying Putin and his troops
The US blamed Russia for the attack that killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners in Donetsk prison
Source-www.infobae.com