MOSCOW – Russia’s Ministry of Defence has decided that an intercontinentalmissile should be named after a Syrian city.
The nuclear-capable cruise missile – Topol-M (RT-2PM2) – has now been named“Palmyra”, the Russia Today reported.
The idea of a public poll arose after Russian President Vladimir Putincalled upon the Russian people to help in choosing names for three newstrategic weapons.
After the results of the poll were analysed by the ministry, it wasrevealed that “Palmyra” had received the most votes. Voters were givenseveral options to choose from.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, had proposed to name thenewest Russian cruise missile, to honor Russian servicemen who foughtinternational terrorism in Syria.
“The name of the city of Palmyra can be translated as ‘miracle’. Russia’svictory in Palmyra has become a turning point in the fight against IslamicState [IS, formerly ISIS]. Besides, our president is from St. Petersburg,the city that is often called the northern Palmyra. In my view, the name‘Palmyra’ for this missile recalls the names of everyone who selflesslyfought evil,” Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram blog.
He emphasized that the Russian servicemen who gave their lives in thecounterterrorist operation in Syria were heroes who fought in order tomaintain the miracle of peace.
Kadyrov’s proposal came soon after President Vladimir Putin presentedseveral cutting-edge Russian-made weapons in his annual address to theparliament and other dignitaries. The weapons – such as a nuclear-poweredcruise missile, a high-power combat laser and an autonomous underwaterdrone capable of breaching strategic defenses – are so new that they haveno official titles yet and Putin suggested that the Defense Ministry couldlaunch a competition to name them.
The Defense Ministry quickly responded by launching a specialized poll onits website.
The idea was also quickly picked up by internet celebrities who proposedvarious funny variants of weapons’ names – from “Columbus” to “Brezhnev’sUnderwear.”
On Friday afternoon, the Defence Ministry’s press service reported that ithad received over 63,000 proposals of names for new weapons in just 24hours, both from Russia and foreign countries.