Vladimir Putin stood at a pristine white podium, addressing the collective Russian government - oligarchs and all - as well as millions of Russians watching the State of the Nation address at home.
A screen behind him showed a computer-generated simulation of a nuclear attack, with a barrage of missiles pouring down on the Florida peninsula.
"With the new system, there is no limitation," said Putin. "As you can see from this video, it can attack any target through the North Pole or via the South Pole. No missile defense system will be able to withstand it."
"It has unlimited range, so it can keep going like this forever," he went on. "As you understand, this is unheard of and no one has this system in the world. They may come up with something like this in the future, but by that time our guys will come up with some new ideas as well."
And that was in 2018...
Since then, Russia's hypersonic capabilities have advanced even further.
In fact, in April, Russia test-fired the latest version of its flagship hypersonic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat.
This is the weapon NATO refers to as "Satan 2."
It's 116 feet long and weighs 220 tons.
It has an estimated max range of 11,180 miles, which is almost double the distance from New York to Beijing.
It's almost half the circumference of the planet.