Status: 12/29/2022 5:11 p.m
As Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, President Putin has attended the inauguration of new warships – from his desk. In his speech, the Kremlin chief announced further naval upgrades.
Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has presided over a ceremony marking the commissioning of several new warships for the Russian Navy. A submarine capable of firing nuclear missiles was also inaugurated.
Putin not only praised the capabilities of the Russian Navy via video – he also announced the production of further ships. Russia will equip the ships with the most modern weapons systems, said the Kremlin boss. “In short, it’s about doing everything possible to ensure Russia’s security and our national interests on the world’s seas,” Putin said.
Putin then gave the signal to hoist the Russian flag on the new ships – such as the nuclear submarine Generalissimus Suvorov, which can fire ballistic nuclear missiles.
Putin wants to use experience from Ukraine
For the future training of the soldiers, the experience from the Russian actions in Ukraine will be used, said Putin. The Kremlin chief is referring to the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, which Moscow believes is not going as well as expected. Most Western observers agree that Russia underestimated Ukrainian resistance.
The Russian army suffered setbacks from the start. 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. Recently, Ukraine has also repeatedly reported recaptures.
Russian army insufficiently equipped
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.