Russia has deployed aircraft armed with hypersonic missiles along the Baltic Sea, a move that inches the country's forces closer to its NATO border, The Associated Press reported.
In a Thursday announcement, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed that it moved three MiG-31 fighters brandishing Kinzhal missiles to Chkalovsk air base in Kaliningrad — a Russian enclave north of Poland and south of Lithuania.
Moscow asserts that the Kinzhal missiles, which have already been used in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, have a range of up to roughly 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and fly at ten times the speed of sound.
The ministry's stated purpose for moving the weapons is to shore up "additional measures of strategic deterrence," with the aircraft on constant alert for immediate orders.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ivan Nechayev said on Thursday that the country fears a coming confrontation with the West, emphasizing that "Russia, as a nuclear power, will continue to act with maximum responsibility."
"The events in Ukraine demonstrated that a clash with the collective West is a real possibility," Nechayev said, adding that a "direct confrontation" is in neither side's best interest.
"We proceed from the assumption that the U.S. and NATO are aware where their aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric with an emphasis on a possible use of nuclear weapons can lead to," he added.
The news comes as the West continues to send billions of dollars' worth of aid to Ukraine as the country fights back against Russia's offensive in the eastern Donbas and southern Kherson regions.
The U.S. alone has provided Ukraine with over $8 billion in security assistance since the war began in late February, according to the Pentagon's official tally last month.
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