Putin issues chilling threat as he claims navy is set to receive 7,000mph nuclear missiles

31.07.2022 - 20:07 / dailyrecord.co.uk

President Vladimir Putin has issued a chilling threat as he claimed the Russian navy is set to receive 7,000mph nuclear missiles. Speaking on Russia’s Navy Day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg, Putin praised Tsar Peter the Great for making Russia a great sea power.

Putin did not mention Ukraine directly - but the Kremlin chief said he had signed a new navy doctrine, the details of which were not published, and touted the Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles as unique in the world. “The delivery of these (missiles) to the Russian armed forces will start in the coming months,” Putin said.

“The Admiral Gorshkov frigate will be the first to go on combat duty with these formidable weapons on board. The key thing here is the capability of the Russian navy... It is able to respond with lightning speed to all who decides to infringe on our sovereignty and freedom.”

Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound, around 7,000mph, and Russia has conducted previous test-launches of the Zircon from warships and submarines over the past year. At this speed it would reach London in about five minutes, report Mirror Online.

It has been hailed by Moscow’s state-controlled TV as Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out US cities in the event of an atomic conflict. However, its range has been put around 650 miles, although Krohmal has said it can strike at targets at a distance of 930 miles.

It will initially be deployed from Russian frigates and later from submarines. This comes as a senior official in Russian-annexed Crimea accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack ahead of planned celebrations to mark Navy Day, injuring five and forcing the cancellation of festivities.

“An unidentified object flew into the