(Moscow) President Vladimir Putin, traveling in the Far North, inaugurated on Monday two new nuclear submarines which will join the Russian fleet, promising to continue to “increase the naval power” of his country.
THE Krasnoyarsk and theEmperor Alexander III were each under construction for nearly six years and represent the fourth generation of Russia’s nuclear-powered submarines. They will join the Pacific Fleet, based in the Far East.
“These formidable missile carriers, without equivalent in their category, are entering service within our navy,” Mr. Putin welcomed during a flag-raising ceremony in Severodvinsk, near Arkhangelsk, in the North West.
“The work aimed at increasing Russia’s maritime power will undoubtedly continue,” he added, while this country has been engaged for almost two years in an assault against Ukraine and targeted by an unprecedented wave sanctions from the West.
Mr. Putin promised to strengthen Russia’s naval presence “in the Arctic, the Far East, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Caspian Sea.”
According to the Russian president, eight more nuclear submarines of various classes are being produced at Russian shipyards.
Since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, and in reaction to the military setbacks that Russian forces suffered there in 2022, Russia has begun to strengthen its army.
Parliament approved a surge in military spending in October and Mr. Putin ordered at the beginning of December to increase the number of Russian soldiers by 15%.