Russia deploys hypersonic missiles to its Baltic exclave

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region. The move that comes amid soaring tensions with the West over Moscow’s action in Ukraine. The Defense Ministry said three MiG-31 fighters with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived Thursday at an air base in the Baltic Sea exclave. The missile deployment to Kaliningrad appeared intended to showcase the Russian military’s capability to threaten NATO assets since the region borders Poland and Lithuania. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “The events in Ukraine demonstrated that a clash with the collective West is a real possibility.” He also stressed that a “direct confrontation” with the U.S. and NATO isn’t in Russia’s interests.