There was a solemn ceremony of commissioning into service of a new Buyan class corvette named Volgodonsk with the Russian Caspian Flotilla based in Astrakhan, Southern Military District press service said.
The Volgodonsk was launched in 2011. In November of that year the ship successfully passed state trials.
The ship is designed to beef up the naval forces of the Caspian Flotilla for operations in littoral zone and river areas, in shallow waters of the Caspian Sea and the Volga River delta. The gunboat is armed with various types of artillery and missiles, capable of delivering effective fire strikes on hostile ships and coastal fortifications.