Putin attended the military naval parade on the Neva River in St. Petersburg to mark Navy Day. The ceremony was attended by ships and crews from the Russian Navy, as well as ships from the navies of China, Algeria and India. This year’s parade was attended by 20 ships, a submarine, four sailing ships and more than 2,500 soldiers.
In his speech at the ceremony, Putin stated that the Russian Navy and its weapons are constantly being renewed and that they will continue to equip and develop ships with high-tech, new generation equipment and hypersonic missile systems.
USA’S PLAN FOR GERMANY
Recalling that the US administration and the German government made statements regarding plans to deploy American long-range high-precision missile weapon systems on German territory starting in 2026, Putin pointed out that important Russian state and military administrative facilities, administrative and industrial centers, and defense infrastructure will fall within the range of these missiles.
“The flight time of such missiles, which may be equipped with nuclear warheads in the future, to targets in our region will be about 10 minutes,” Putin said.
Putin, who had previously said that the US had deployed Typhon missile systems in Denmark and the Philippines during the exercises, pointed out that this situation was reminiscent of the “Cold War” events of the deployment of American Pershing medium-range missiles in Europe.
“If the United States implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously assumed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range offensive weapons, including the increase in the capabilities of our Navy’s coastal forces. Today, the development of some of our such systems is at the final stage. We will take similar measures to deploy them, taking into account the actions of the United States and its satellites in Europe and other parts of the world,” Putin said.
“RUSSIAN STRATEGIC AIRCRAFT PATROLS ARE A RESPONSE TO THE USA”
Noting that tensions have increased in Washington regarding the flights of Russian strategic aircraft, Putin reminded that Russian strategic missile aircraft have not conducted air patrols away from Russia’s borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“At that time, Russia believed that this was no longer necessary. The world had changed, the Cold War was in the past. But the United States did not respond to this unilateral gesture and continued to patrol our borders. That is why we resumed such flights since 2007. This was a response to the increased activity of US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft against Russia in sensitive areas of the world. This measure is also aimed at ensuring security in the Asia-Pacific region,” Putin said.
(AA)