Russia is reportedly preparing to create a new Pacific fleet of submarines that will be equipped with Vladimir Putin’s deadly Poseidon nuclear missiles by next year. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s propaganda machine has continued to make threats of a “nuclear apocalypse,” and in recent months, the rhetoric has only intensified.
Nonetheless, they admit that these terrifying nuclear weapons could devastate coastal cities in the UK, cause radioactive floods, and potentially kill millions of people in London.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the fleet of submarines equipped with these doomsday torpedoes could be operational by the end of 2024 or in the first half of 2025.
In January, Moscow announced that it had developed the first batch of the devastating Poseidon weapons, which are a combination of drone and torpedo.
The move comes four years after Putin first revealed the new strategic nuclear weapon, confirming that it would be powered by its own nuclear source.
It comes as Russia’s top counterterrorism body on Monday blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies for the bombing attack that killed a well-known Russian military blogger who fervently supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Russian officials said Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, was killed Sunday as he was leading a discussion at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of St. Petersburg.
Over 30 people were wounded by the blast, and 10 of them remain in grave condition, according to the authorities.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee, a state structure that coordinates counterterrorism operations, said that the “terrorist act” against Tatarsky was “planned by Ukrainian special services” with the involvement of people who have cooperated with an anti-corruption foundation created by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
It noted that the arrested suspect was an “active supporter” of Navalny’s group.
Shortly before the announcement, Russia’s Investigative Committee, the top state criminal investigation agency, reported the arrest of Darya Tryopova, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident suspected of involvement in the attack.
Tryopova had been previously detained for taking part in anti-war rallies.
Investigators believe that the bomb was hidden in a bust of the blogger that the suspect had given to him as a gift just before the explosion.
According to Russian media reports, Tryopova told investigators that she was used as a carrier to deliver the explosive device, but didn’t know that it was hidden in the bust.
Witnesses said that the suspect asked questions and exchanged remarks with Tatarsky during the discussion.
One witness said the woman told Tatarsky that she had made a bust of the blogger but that guards asked her to leave it at the door, suspecting it could be a bomb.
They joked and laughed, and then she went to the door, grabbed the bust and presented it to Tatarsky.
