The President took part, via videoconference, in a keel-laying ceremony for the Navy’s new warships at the leading Russian shipbuilding yards, Kremlin says in a press release. The keel-laying ceremonies were held at the Sevmash plant in Severodvinsk, the Admiralty Shipyards in St Petersburg, and the Amur Shipbuilding Company in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
“Congratulations to all shipbuilders and navy sailors of Russia on this new important stage in the development of the Russian Navy. We are launching construction of another series of modern warships. Today, we are laying down two multi-purpose short-range ships in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and four long-range submarines at Sevmash and the Admiralty Shipyards”, Vladimir Putin said at the ceremony.
He emphasized that “all the ships will be equipped with modern high-precision weapons, the latest navigation and communications equipment. The majority of these technologies proved their effectiveness during combat operations in Syria”.
“I have said it before and I will say it again: a strong sovereign Russia needs a powerful and balanced Navy. The Navy plays a key role in ensuring the security of our country and protecting our national interests. It makes a weighty contribution to strengthening strategic parity and international stability. We will continue to develop Russia's naval potential, improve the naval base system and the fleet infrastructure, fit out the ships with the most advanced weapons and equipment, provide training for complicated battle missions during drills and long-distance voyages, and “demonstrate” the Russian flag in strategically important areas of the world ocean. These important and major tasks are based on the geopolitical location of our country and its role in global affairs. The building of a cutting-edge, efficient Navy demands higher standards of the Russian shipbuilders’, said the President of Russia.
“I would like to thank everyone who is taking part in this huge and important work for our country, and thank the shipyard workers, engineers, and all your colleagues, employees in our design bureaus for the well-managed and coordinated work”, said Vladimir Putin adding that “over a period of the next few years, you will have quite a serious job to implement the state defence orders, to realise plans outlined in the state arms programme, so that in six years, in 2027, the share of contemporary ships in the Russian Navy reaches 70 percent”.