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President Vladimir Putin has vowed to strengthen Russia’s nuclear triad amid an escalating feud with NATO. Photo/Sputnik/Russian Ministry of Defense Press Service
MOSCOW – In the midst of a feud with NATO It’s getting hotter, President Vladimir Putin swear to continue to strengthen nuclear triad Russia.
Putin’s promise, which also includes his commitment to the development of hypersonic weapons, was conveyed in his Defender of the Fatherland Day speech.
“We will increase attention, as before, to strengthening the nuclear triad,” Putin told veterans of World War II on Thursday (23/2/2023), referring to the three methods of striking states with nuclear weapons: land-based ballistic missiles, missiles submarine-based ballistics, and nuclear-bomber aircraft.
Also read: Former Russian Diplomat: Putin’s Nuclear Attack Threat is Just a Bluff
According to the Russian leader, that will include placing the first RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launcher in combat duty, encouraging the development and production of more hypersonic missiles, and commissioning the Russian Navy’s newest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
“This year, the first launchers of the Sarmat missile complex with new heavy missiles will enter combat duty. We will resume mass production of the Kinzhal hypersonic air-to-surface missile and begin mass deliveries of the Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile,” Putin said, as quoted by Sputnik.
“The entry into the combat service of the Emperor Alexander III (submarine) of the Russian Navy will ensure that the share of modern weapons and equipment in the strategic nuclear forces of the Navy will reach 100%,” Putin continued.
“In the coming years, the combat power of the fleet will be increased by three similar ballistic missile submarines,” he added.
He added that, like Emperor Alexander III, three submarines would be the Project 955A Borei-A class (NATO designation Dolgorukiy): Prince Pozharskiy, Prince Potemkin, and Dmitri Donskoy.
Putin’s promise came at a time when NATO is increasingly supporting Ukraine with an almost non-stop supply of modern weapons. Russia has repeatedly warned that this move could drag NATO into direct war with Moscow.
February 23, Defender of the Fatherland Day, marks the date in 1918 when the newly formed Red Army initiated its first conscription in response to the outbreak of civil war following the Bolshevik seizure of power the previous November.
It is also the day before the first anniversary of the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in 2022.
Russia has 1,550 active nuclear warheads, the most in the world, within the limits of the New START treaty it signed with the United States.
Earlier, Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the bilateral inspection portion of the agreement, saying Washington had made its fulfillment impossible for now.
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