President Putin Orders MiG-31 Fighter Jets with Kinzhal Missiles to Carry Out Permanent Patrols in the Black Sea

Kinzhal hypersonic missiles on MiG-31 fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/The Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin this week ordered the Russian Aerospace Forces to start permanent patrols in the Black Sea airspace, with fighter jets equipped with hypersonic missiles.

“Under my orders, the Russian Aerospace Forces began patrolling neutral airspace over the Black Sea on a permanent basis. "Our MiG-31 aircraft are armed with the Kinzhal system," said President Putin as reported by TASS, October 18.

President Putin further explained that the Kinzhal missile has a range of more than 1,000 kilometers and a speed of up to Mach 9.

"This is not a threat," President Putin said, explaining he was simply announcing his decision.

President Putting made his announcement after assessing US actions in Ukraine, indicating Washington is increasingly involved in the conflict.

"Plus, all of this is happening in the midst of conflict in the Middle East, all of this is making the situation even worse. Now, they are withdrawing two groups of aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean," he explained.

According to President Putin, Russian Air Force patrols will allow for visual control and 'armed control' over events in the Mediterranean.

"I warn this is not a threat, but we will carry out visual control, control with weapons over what is happening in the Mediterranean," the Russian leader underlined, answering a question whether his remarks would be called a threat against Western countries.

It is known that the Kinzhal hypersonic missile is one of a series of new weapons that President Putin revealed in his state of the nation address in 2018.

This missile is said to be capable of flying in the atmosphere and can perform maneuvers compared to conventional missiles, so it is claimed to be able to avoid interception by enemy air defenses.