Russian President Vladimir Putin said he’s ordered fighter jets armed with hypersonic missiles to begin round-the-clock patrols over the Black Sea, ratcheting up tensions with the US amid the war in Ukraine and the spiraling crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.
Putin told reporters in Beijing after talks Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he’d ordered MiG-31 aircraft armed with Kinzhal missiles that “have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers at a speed of Mach 9” to conduct permanent missions over neutral waters in the Black Sea.
