Russia’s Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Golovko successfully test-fired the hypersonic Cyrkon missile, achieving a direct hit on a target in the Barents Sea.
Test of the Hypersonic Cyrkon Missile
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the frigate Admiral Golovko of the Northern Fleet fired the Cyrkon missile in the direction of a target in the Barents Sea. The video released by the ministry shows the missile launching vertically from the ship and its flight towards the horizon.
Zapad 2025 Strategic Exercises
Zapad 2025, a strategic exercise carried out jointly by Russia and Belarus since September 12, aims – as Moscow claims – to be defensive and to improve cooperation in case of an attack on any of the countries. Russian and Belarusian authorities emphasize that they do not plan any offensive actions against NATO countries. However, the Western alliance responded with its own program Eastern Sentry after the incident involving Russian drones, which violated Poland’s airspace on September 9 and 10.
Polish Countermeasures
Warsaw is conducting its own exercises called Iron Defender for over 30,000 soldiers. On Sunday, the third day of the Zapad exercises was taking place, held on ranges in Russia and Belarus. Moscow had previously announced that during the exercises, units equipped with hypersonic and nuclear weapons would be used. Authorities in Warsaw considered the Russian-Belarusian maneuvers a potential threat to Poland’s security and decided to close the border with Belarus. Lithuania and Latvia have also strengthened their territorial protection.
