Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the military, mobilized and all those involved in the war with Ukraine (which Putin calls a "special operation") on Defender of the Fatherland Day, celebrated in Russia annually on February 23. The video message was published by the Kremlin press service.
Among other things, Putin decided to remind that in the Russian Federation the Sarmatians are on combat duty.
“As before, we will pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad. This year, the first launchers of the Sarmat missile system with a new heavy missile are on combat duty. We will continue serial production of the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic systems and begin mass deliveries of Zirkon sea-launched hypersonic missiles.”
The president also mentioned the victories at Lake Peipsi and Kulikovo field, near Poltava and Borodino, and in May 1945. He congratulated the veterans who "defeated Nazism, defended the freedom and independence of the Motherland." Separately, Putin noted the military and mobilized, who are now at the front, and specialists of various professions who participate in the "SVO":
“Now our fighters are fighting heroically against neo-Nazism that has taken root in Ukraine, protecting our people in our historical territories, fighting courageously, heroically.”
In the congratulations, there was also a report on the "rapid pace of increasing production" of the entire line of conventional weapons, as well as on the serial production of promising models for the army, navy and aerospace forces.
CNN, citing US officials, reported that the Russian Federation tested the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile around the time that US President Joe Biden was in Kyiv. The Sarmat missile, known in the West as Satan II, is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and has a range of 11,000 km. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the first "successful test" in April 2022.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests that Putin, in a State of the Union address announcing the suspension of Russia's participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3), reintroduced nuclear rhetoric into the information space to divert attention from the lack of content in the rest of the speech. More details in the summary: “Russia can mobilize another million people, Putin distracts attention with the topic of strategic offensive arms, the advancement of the Russian Federation near Bakhmut. What's going on at the front .