MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons on Thursday, in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and not be intercepted.

Speaking weeks before an election he is expected to win, Putin also said that a nuclear attack on any of Moscow’s allies would be regarded as an attack on Russia itself and draw an immediate response.

President Putin, who polls indicate should be easily re-elected on March 18, backed his tough rhetoric with video clips of some of the new missiles he was talking about, which were projected on a giant screen behind him at the conference hall in central Moscow where he was addressing Russia’s political elite.

‘Nuclear attack on any ally will be deemed an attack on Russia itself’

“They have not succeeded in holding Russia back,” said Putin, referring to the West. “Now they need to take account of a new reality and understand that everything I have said today is not a bluff.”

Among the new weapons that he said were either in development or ready: a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a small nuclear warhead that could be attached to cruise missiles, underwater nuclear drones, a supersonic weapon and a laser weapon. The audience, made up of Russian lawmakers and other leading figures, frequently stood up and applauded his presentation, which culminated with the Russian national anthem being played.

Putin, who has dominated his country’s political landscape for the last 18 years and often used anti-Western rhetoric to mobilise support, said the technological advances meant that Nato’s build-up on Russia’s borders and the roll-out of a US anti-missile system would be rendered useless.

“I hope that everything that was said today will sober up any potential aggressor,” said the Russian leader. “Unfriendly steps towards Russia such as the deployment of the (US) anti-missile system and of Nato infrastructure nearer our borders and such like, from a military point of view, will become ineffective.”

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2018