In a Thursday announcement, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it carried three MiG-31 fighters hosting Kinzhal missiles to Chkalovsk air base in Kaliningrad — a Russian enclave north of Poland and south of Lithuania.
Moscow claims that the Kinzhal rockets, which have already been used in its continuous 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 goal 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 is concerned an approaching confrontation with the West, stressing that "Russia, as a nuclear power, will continue to act with maximum responsibility."
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"The events in Ukraine demonstrated that a clash with the collective West is a real possibility," Nechayev said, adding that a "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.
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The news comes as the West keeps sending 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.
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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.
The endeavor to stop the Kremlin and punish President Vladimir Putin for his meaningless show of aggression against Ukraine is at great risk of taking an illiberal – and counterproductive – turn. Over the past 10 days, numerous European leaders and politicians have suggested limiting or even denying Russian nationals from receiving visas, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for such restrictions on August 8.
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There are numerous problems with such a policy and the framing of the current debate.
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Due to Putin's aggression, it is already becoming much harder for Russians to obtain visas for the European Union and Schengen Zone. The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed EU diplomats in recent years and the stinging nature of sanctions on Russian banks raises significant obstacles to EU-Russian money transfers, even for individual account holders.
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