Putin warns of ‘lethal’ strikes at warship parade

President Vladimir Putin waves as he attends the Navy Day parade in St Petersburg yesterday. (AFP)

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Russia’s navy was capable of delivering lethal strikes against underwater and aerial enemy targets during a parade of warships in the port city of Saint Petersburg.The Russian leader’s boast comes days after military officials announced tests of advanced new weapons, some of which come from an arsenal Putin has described as “invincible.”“The Russian navy today has everything it needs to guarantee the protection of our country and our national interests,” he said.“We can detect underwater, surface or aerial enemies and target them if a lethal strike is necessary,” Putin said according to a broadcast on state television.Putin said Russia had secured its place among the world’s leading naval powers, including by developing “the latest hypersonic precision weapons still unrivalled in the world”.With the second-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world and a huge cache of ballistic missiles, Russia already has more than enough military capacity to deter its enemies.