Russian state media warns Putin's hypersonic missiles would instantly vaporize these 5 US targets

AP Photo/ Dmitry Lovetsky

One of Russia's largest Soviet-built nuclear submarines, Typhoon (Akula) class, which remains the world's largest with the displacement of about 25,000 metric tons (27,500 tons) heaves ahead in the Barents Sea at Russia's Arctic Coast in this September 2001 photo.

• Russian state media identified five US targets Russia would seek to destroy in a nuclear war, claiming that the new Zircon missile Russia could strike less than five minutes after launch.
• The Sunday evening broadcast came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the US, warning that he is ready for a "Cuban Missile-style crisis."
• Russia has said that if the US positions new missiles in Europe, it could send ships and submarines armed with new hypersonic weapons to lurk off the coast of the US.

Russian state media pinpointed targets in the US that Russia would strike in a nuclear war with its new Zircon missile that reportedly travels at nine times the speed of sound.

Just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the US, state TV channel Russia-1 presented a list of US targets the country would strike in the event of a nuclear war, according to Reuters.

The targets listed in the Sunday evening broadcast included the Pentagon and Camp David, as well as Jim Creek Naval Radio Station in Washington, Fort Ritchie in Maryland, and McClellan Air Force base out in California, Russian media outlet Sputnik reported. The latter two targets have been closed for around two decades, making them odd choices.

Russian state media claimed that the Zircon missiles Russia is developing could strike critical US targets less than five minutes after launch.

Tensions have been flaring between the US and Russia since the two countries walked away from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Cold War-era nuclear arms agreement the NATO and the US have accused Russia of violating. Observers have noted that the collapse of this bilateral pact risks escalating an arms race between the two nuclear powers.

Russia is particularly concerned about the possibility that the US will position new missiles in Europe. In his state of the nation address Wednesday, Putin threatened to target both the host countries for the new missiles and US decision-making centers with new weapons if the US were to take that step.

Read More: In threatening state of the nation address, Putin threatens to target the US with new weapons if it puts missiles in Europe

It was during that speech that the president unveiled the Zircon missile, a hypersonic weapon he said was able to fly at nine times the speed of sound and strike targets 620 miles away.

The very next day, Putin warned that Russia is ready for a "Cuban Missile-style crisis" if the US wants one, noting that Russia could arm its submarines with hypersonic weapons and let them lurk off the US coast, Reuters reported. Washington has said that it has no plans to place new missiles in Europe.

"For now, we're not threatening anyone, but if such a deployment takes place, our response will be instant," Russian state media said Sunday evening.

Russian Rear Adm. Vsevolod Khmyrov, who is retired, told reporters last week that Russian ships and submarines could each carry up to 40 Zircon missiles.