Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the Russian fleet will receive new hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles in the coming months, and the areas where they will be deployed will depend on the interests of the Kremlin, Reuters reported.

In a speech Sunday in Russia’s former imperial capital, St. Petersburg, on the Day of the Russian Navy, Putin praised Czar Peter the Great for making Russia a great maritime power, but did not directly mention Ukraine.

At the same time, the head of the Kremlin said that he had signed a new Navy doctrine, the details of which have not been made public at the moment, and emphasized that the Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles are unique in the world.

“The delivery of these missiles to the Russian armed forces will begin in the coming months. The Admiral Gorshkov frigate will be the first to go on the offensive with this formidable weapon on board,” Putin said.

“The key aspect here is the capability of the Russian fleet… It can quickly respond to anyone who decides to violate our sovereignty and freedom,” Vladimir Putin also said.

Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound, and Russia conducted preliminary tests of the Zircon missile from warships and submarines during 2021.

Putin attended a naval parade in St. Petersburg

On Sunday, Vladimir Putin held a naval parade in St. Petersburg, featuring 40 ships and submarines and about 3,500 military personnel, in the former imperial capital to mark Russian Navy Day, which is widely celebrated across the country. AFP notes, taken by news.ro

Along with the President of the Russian Federation, Russian Defense Minister Serhiy Shoigu and the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Mykola Yevmenov, took part in the Russian Navy Day parade in the Gulf of Finland in St. Petersburg.

In Sevastopol, on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, celebrations were canceled after a drone attack early Sunday on the General Staff of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea injured six soldiers.

Ukraine denied these accusations on Sunday.

Putin praises the Zircon hypersonic missiles.

In early June, Russia announced that it had completed tests of the hypersonic Zircon cruise missile and would conduct them by the end of the year on a new frigate of the Northern Fleet, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

This was announced by the commander of the Northern Fleet, Oleksandr Moiseev, who specified that the frigate “Admiral Golovko” will become the first permanently armed frigate “Zirkon” (in the original – “Tyrkon”), reports the Russian news agency TASS.

At the time, President Vladimir Putin described the Zircon as part of a new generation of unprecedented weapons systems capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound.

Russia suffered heavy losses during the three-month war in Ukraine, but continued to test the latest missiles.

It is reported that in May, Russia successfully tested the hypersonic Zircon missile.

At the end of May, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced the successful test launch of the hypersonic cruise missile “Zirkon” at a range of about 1,000 km, CNN reports.

The missile was launched from the Barents Sea and hit a target in the White Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

The video released by the ministry shows how the missile was launched from the ship and flew upwards on a steep trajectory, according to Reuters.

In April of this year, it tested a new nuclear intercontinental missile “Sarmat”, capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads.

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