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Crew members in front of one of the newly inaugurated ships
Photo: IMAGO/Vitaliy Ankov / IMAGO/SNA
Vladimir Putin on Thursday attended a ceremony to inaugurate several new warships, including a submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles.
The Russian President, participating via video conference, announced the production of more ships and praised the capabilities of the Russian Navy.
Russia will "accelerate and expand the construction of ships of various types and equip them with the most modern weapon systems," said the Kremlin chief.
"In short, it's about doing everything possible to ensure Russia's security and our national interests on the world's seas," the president added.
Connected via video, he gave the signal to hoist the Russian flag on the new ships.
Among the new additions is the nuclear submarine Generalissimus Suvorov, which can fire nuclear ballistic missiles.
Rebuilding the army expensive - and difficult
Putin, who has been in power in Russia for almost 23 years, has made modernizing the Russian armed forces one of his priorities.
The Armed Forces were equipped with advanced missiles, including hypersonic missiles, new ships and, most importantly, tanks.
However, reconstruction is expensive and is repeatedly delayed due to technical difficulties and cases of corruption.
Despite modernization, the Russian army is still considered to be inadequately equipped and poorly organized.
It suffered a series of setbacks in its military offensive in Ukraine.
For example, the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow, was humiliated when Ukrainian forces sank their flagship Moskva in April.
Telephone call with Beijing announced
Meanwhile, Putin is trying to contact his most important foreign partner.
He and China's head of state Xi Jinping want to have a conversation via video line on Friday.
According to the Kremlin, the exchange of views will focus on "the most important regional problems" - both those "closer to Russia and those "closer to China".
In the face of international condemnation of Russia's offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions, Putin wants to strengthen ties with Beijing and boost economic cooperation.
The two countries see themselves as a geopolitical counterweight to the United States and its allies.
In December, for example, Russia and China held joint military exercises that the Russian army chief described as a response to "aggressive" US stances in the Asia-Pacific region.
dop/AFP
