On October 18, 2023, russian President Vladimir Putin announced that russia will begin conducting fighter patrols in the eastern Black Sea using the MiG-31I interceptor aircraft armed with Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
His justification referred to the recent uplift in the US’ maritime presence in the eastern Mediterranean, with the intent of holding these vessels at risk using a weapon system with a published range of up to 2000 km. This announcement is in line with typical russian rhetoric aimed at its domestic audience, calling the West aggressors whilst framing russian activity as necessary for protection of the state.
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The specific mention of the Kinzhal missile and its capabilities by Putin was almost certainly for strategic messaging purposes, to demonstrate that russia remains able to produce and operate newly developed weapons, despite the ongoing war.
The Kinzhal effectively remains in operational testing, with its performance in Ukraine to date being poor. It remains highly capable on paper, able to fly at hypersonic speeds and evade modern air defense systems, although there almost certainly needs to be significant improvement in how russia uses it to achieve this potential.
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