New Russian Kinzhal missiles in Kaliningrad

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the arrival of three MiG-31 aircraft equipped with hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles to the “Chalovsk” base in the Kaliningrad region.

“The combat missions of the MiG-31 aircraft armed with Kinzhal missiles will be organized around the clock at the Chkalovsk airport,” it said in a statement.

These “Kinzhal” and “Zircon” ballistic missiles are part of new weapons developed by Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin is considered “indomitable” because they can circumvent enemy defense systems.

Moscow has repeatedly announced that it has used hypersonic missiles as part of its large-scale offensive launched since February 28 in Ukraine.

The deployment of these weapons in Kaliningrad comes against the backdrop of a confrontation between the European Union and Moscow in recent weeks regarding this enclave on the Baltic coast.

This enclave on the Baltic Sea, located thousands of kilometers from Moscow, was at the center of a Russian-European conflict as a result of the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Russian authorities since last February.

In implementation of European sanctions, Lithuania in June stopped allowing some goods destined for Kaliningrad to transit through its territory.

But after protests and threats to Moscow, the European Union asked Vilnius to allow the passage of Russian goods by rail, with the exception of military equipment.

It is noteworthy that the Kaliningrad enclave is located between Poland and Lithuania, and is a Russian military position in Europe and an important strategic location.

But it is also isolated in an anti-Russian region surrounded by two members of both NATO and the European Union that strongly support Ukraine in the face of Russian objectives.

Kaliningrad is also of great strategic importance to Moscow, as it houses the Russian Baltic Fleet in the port of Baltiysk, the only ice-free European port in the country.