Cruise missiles over Franz Josef Land
The Russian Navy has fired Onyx cruise missiles from Bastion coastal defense systems deployed at the far northern archipelago.
According to the Northern Fleet, the cruise missiles hit their targets located more than 200 km away.
The missile shooting is part of the ongoing Zapad-2025 exercise.
Reportedly, key target in the exercise was an imagined enemy flotilla in the Barents Sea. The scenario also included the destruction of imagined enemy saboteurs that had infiltrated the archipelago.
A video posted on the social media channels of the armed forces shows several missile systems firing parallell salvos.
Launch of Onyx missiles from coastal missile system Bastion in Franz Josef Land. Video by Russian armed forces.
The drills followed the landing of troops, armament and armored vehicles from landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovsky earlier this week.
The Franz Josef Land is Russia’s northernmost archipelago. It is located about 400 km from Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
Over the past years, Russia has significantly strengthened its military presence at the archipelago. The Nagurskoye base today includes a major building complex, an airfield and powerful arms, including the Bastion system, a Monolit-B coastal radar, as well as anti-drone equipment.
In a bid to intimidate Norway and its NATO allies, the Russian war ministry emphasizes that the onyx missiles are «almost undetectable» for moderne air defence systems and capable of "destroying naval vessels of any size at distances of up to several hundred kilometres."
Russia has applied the missiles in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
As part of the Zapad-2025, Russia this week also conducted mock strikes with its Kinzhal missile over the Barents Sea. Also the coastal missile system Bal has been engaged, according to the Russian armed forces on Telegram.
Launch of missile Uran from coastal missile complex Bal. Video by Russian armed forces.
Large areas in the Barents Sea has been sealed off in connection with the training. Several of the areas are in the Norwegian exclusive economic zone. According to Northern Sentry, a Norwegian account on X with focus on the High North, one of the exercise scenarios of the Zapad-2025 is the attack of Svalbard and subsequent occupation of the archipelago.
The Zapad-2025 is reported to include at least 13,000 thousand troops. The exercise comes amidst Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the loss of several hundred thousand Russian soldiers.
The exercise is the first Zapad-exercise since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine. The previous exercise of the kind, the Zapad-2021, reportedly included about 200,000 troops.
