Russia has deployed a "city killer" submarine to the Arctic Circle and mobilized a convoy of military vehicles responsible for the transport of Moscow's nuclear arsenal in the latest sign that President Vladimir Putin plans to escalate the conflict following a string of battlefield failures.
Russian Telegram channel Rybar on Sunday showed a video depicting armored vehicles, according to the New York Post. The transports reportedly belong to the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, which oversees the Russian nuclear stockpile.
Moreover, NATO has warned that the Belgorod, a newly commissioned supersized submarine, had left port, per the outlet. The submarine is reportedly able to house Poseidon nuclear torpedoes and could feasibly trigger enormous tsunamis through their use.
These torpedoes are still in development, nuclear experts have said, though the sub remains a formidable threat. "Poseidon is a completely new category of weapon. It will reshape naval planning in both Russia and the West, leading to new requirements and new counter-weapons," submarine expert H.I. Sutton said of the new weapon, per the Post.
The deployments follow the Russian annexation of four Ukrainian provinces in what outside observers have labeled as illegitimate referendums.
