Putin fires new hypersonic missile from White Sea as war fears erupt on EU border

Russia test-fired the Zircon hypersonic missile from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the White Sea.

The weapon, which travels at five times the speed of sound, successfully hit its target at a distance of more than 400 kilometers.

It comes amid mounting tensions over Russia amassing troops on the Ukraine border.

Last week, the US said “all options” are on the table in how to respond to Moscow’s troops.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried said on Friday: “As you can appreciate, all options are on the table and there’s a toolkit that includes a whole range of options.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Latvia and Sweden this week to attend meetings of NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Ms Donfried said Moscow’s “large and unusual” troop buildup would top the agenda at the NATO summit.

Russia’s deputy premier Yury Borisov said last month that Russia had outpaced the West in hypersonic weapons.

He said: “We have broken forward, specifically, in the sphere of hypersonic weapons and based on new physical principles.

“We now have serious advantages in this regard over the leading Western countries – and will try to maintain this position.”

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source: express.co.uk