Senior Russian defence officials showed North Korean Kim Jong Un Russia’s hypersonic missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft at an airfield close to Vladivostok on Saturday.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu received Kim at Knevichi airfield, located 50 kilometres away from Vladivostok and the North Korean leader inspected a guard of honour. The Russian defence ministry said in a release that “samples of cutting-edge aircraft” from the Russian Aerospace Forces were displayed at the Knevichi airport.
“Kim Jong-un saw a Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber, a Tu-95MS turboprop strategic bomber, and a Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic missile bomber at the Knevichi airfield. These aircraft make up the Russian Federation's air component of its strategic nuclear forces. Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces's Long Range Aviation, gave a report on the features, armament, and combat capabilities of these strategic missile carriers,” the Russian defence ministry said. He also views the Tu-214 long-range aircraft.
Kim was also shown Russian MiG-31I missile carrier with the latest Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched missile. “This Russian aircraft system has no equivalent anywhere in the world and has shown to be very combat-effective,” the defence ministry said.
Kim also inspected Russia’s Pacific Fleet frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov in Vladivostok. “Admiral Nikolay Evmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, spoke about the characteristics of the ship and anti-submarine weapons – four-tube torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 rocket launchers,” the ministry said. He also checked the artillery system of the ship.
However, the Kremlin on Friday said no bilateral agreements were signed between the leaders, including on military-technical cooperation. "No agreements were signed on this issue or on other issues and there were no such plans," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
