Vladimir Putin has issued a stark new threat to the West, warning of his nuclear naval arsenal and claiming that the high-speed Poseidon underwater drone, powered by its own atomic reactor, is on track to become operational. Russian propagandists have said the weapon could trigger radioactive tidal waves capable of submerging large parts of Britain.
The Russian president spoke from a command bunker at the Admiralty in St Petersburg after being forced to abandon his usual massive Navy Day show of strength amid fears of a Ukrainian strike on his warships or an assassination attempt. The internet was switched off in the city as he arrived, with air defences deployed, and the traditional Main Naval Parade was aborted in favour of scaled-back events.
In his address, Putin stressed the importance of a submarine fleet equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles for deterring any adversary. He insisted: "We did not start any war. We merely began responding to the hostilities, to the war that today's Kyiv regime, with the support of the West, unleashed against the south-east of Ukraine." He vowed that the conflict would end with Russia's victory.
Naval commander Alexander Moiseev announced that the new nuclear submarine cruiser Perm, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, would enter service this year, part of 20 new vessels. However, analysts believe support for Putin is ebbing as Ukraine strikes deeper inside Russia, with more than 200 vessels, mostly tankers and cargo ships, destroyed by Ukraine in the Black and Azov seas this month.
As Putin spoke, the horror of an attack on a supermarket in Chernihiv emerged, with two people killed, including a ten-year-old child, and 20 wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned it as "a deliberate act of Russian terror that has no military justification."
