Russia moves hypersonic weapons to Kaliningrad - Berlin only 500 kilometers away
Created: 2022-08-20 06:22
By: Victoria Krumbeck
Russia announced it had moved hypersonic weapons to Kaliningrad.
The Baltic Sea exclave is only 500 kilometers from Berlin.
Moscow/Munich – It is a Russian province in the middle of NATO territory: the Kaliningrad exclave.
In the course of the Ukraine war, a dispute arose between Russia and Lithuania over the exclave.
Russia had accused Lithuania of blocking transport routes to Kaliningrad.
Now Russia is moving hypersonic weapons there.
The action is to be understood as a threatening gesture against the West.
Lithuania reacts calmly.
Russia transfers Kinzhal hypersonic weapon to Kaliningrad
According to Russian information, Russia has relocated fighter jets with the new hypersonic missiles “Kinzhal” to its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
Russia is trying to intimidate the West.
A total of three MiG-31 interceptors with the air-to-surface missiles are said to be stationed at the Chkalovsk air base.
The transfer serves as an "additional measure for strategic deterrence," according to the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow, according to the Interfax agency, on Thursday.
A Russian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor loaded with a Kinzhal air-to-surface ballistic missile.
© Pavel Golovkin/AP/dpa
Kaliningrad is located between the EU countries Poland and Lithuania.
The province therefore borders on two EU countries and is only 500 kilometers away from Berlin.
More than 1000 kilometers separate Kaliningrad from Moscow.
According to Russian data, the “Kinzhal” cruise missiles fly up to ten times faster than sound.
They are still steerable and have a range of 2000 kilometers.
Russia's hypersonic weapons in Kaliningrad - Lithuania reacts calmly
The Kinzhal missiles can be equipped with either conventional or nuclear weapons.
It is said to be one of several state-of-the-art weapons systems that President Vladimir Putin is particularly proud of.
According to its own statements, Russia has
One of these missiles was shot down against a military target in western Ukraine in March.
Lithuania reacted calmly to the Russian announcement.
The deployment of "Kinzhal" missiles does not change the regional security situation and does not pose any further threat, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told the BNS agency.
"The nominal threat that Russia poses to its neighbors is always there, but the threat level has not increased as a result," Anusauskas said of the Russian announcement.
(vk/dpa)
