On "Defender of the Fatherland Day" Putin addresses the Russian people again. The content of his speech serves to deter the West. Whether Sarmat, Kinschal or Zirkon - it's all about missiles.
Amid increasing confrontation with the West, Russia intends to further develop its nuclear forces, according to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. "We will continue to pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad," Putin said in a speech released by the Kremlin on the occasion of Defender of the Fatherland Day celebrated in Russia on Thursday. The head of state announced that the new Sarmat ICBM, which can be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be put into service for the first time this year. That was originally planned for 2022.
In addition, serial production of the Kinzhal missile should continue and mass deliveries of ship-launched Zircon hypersonic missiles should begin, Putin said. "A modern, efficient army and navy guarantee a country's security and sovereignty," said the 70-year-old.
The head of the Kremlin repeatedly speaks of a threat from NATO, which is aiming to defeat nuclear power Russia in the war of aggression he ordered against Ukraine. In his major state of the nation speech on Tuesday, Putin announced that he would modernize his army, which international military experts have repeatedly attested to as having massive equipment problems in the war against Ukraine.
In the speech, Putin also announced the suspension of the last major nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States, the so-called "New Start" agreement. In the West he earned sharp criticism for this. With regard to Ukraine, Putin now thanked everyone who was deployed for Russia in the war, which he also referred to as a "special military operation". Once again he placed today's Russian soldiers in a supposed tradition with those who fought against Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in Soviet times in World War II. "Today our soldiers are fighting heroically against the neo-Nazism that has taken root in Ukraine. They are defending our people in our historical areas, they are fighting bravely and heroically," Putin said.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda also repeatedly questions the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which borders Russia. Last year, Moscow annexed a total of four areas in eastern and southern Ukraine in violation of international law. Together with Crimea, which was annexed to the Black Sea peninsula in 2014, Russia currently occupies around 18 percent of Ukraine's territory.
