Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to provide his troops with whatever they need to win the war in Ukraine and warned a new “Satan II” hypersonic missile would be ready for deployment soon.
The hypersonic Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan II, is likely to be added to the Kremlin's artillery in the new year.
It is thought each Satan II warhead can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads at five times the speed of sound, with a range of 12,000 miles.
During a televised end-of-year meeting with Moscow's military chiefs, Putin insisted that money would be no barrier to providing troops with the latest weapons.
However, Putin gave little away in terms of strategy as his invasion of Ukraine continues, as he heralded Russian soldiers and defence chiefs as “heroes”.
Putin criticised Nato and said western leaders were prolonging the conflict by providing military aid to Ukraine.
The Independent reported the president as saying that the combat readiness of the country’s nuclear forces must be assured, while the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the speed with which new weapons reach troops had improved.
Putin backed Shoigu's suggestion to increase Russia's military force to around 1.5million people.
He also promised that Russian military changes would be done “calmly” and “won't be rushed”.
"What is happening is of course a tragedy, our common tragedy, but it is not a result of our policy," Putin said – instead laying the blame at what he called “third” countries, “who have always striven for this, the disintegration of the Russian world... to a certain extent they succeeded, and pushed us to the line where we are now.”
Putin's comments came as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington for talks with President Joe Biden at the White House, the first overseas trip the Ukrainian leader has taken since the start of the Russian invasion.
