MOSCOW, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a flag-raising ceremony for three new warships that are set to join the country's navy, the Kremlin reported on Monday.
The Admiral Golovko frigate will join Russia's Northern Fleet, while the Naro-Fominsk small-rocket ship and the Lev Chernavin minesweeper will serve in the country's Baltic Fleet, the Russian leader said during the ceremony he attended at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg.
"The commissioning of the newest ships into the fleet demonstrates that the shipbuilding industry is thriving," the president said, adding that it is now engaged in successful mass production of different classes of warships.
The Admiral Golovko, a serial-produced frigate, is armed with Kalibr cruise missiles and was created with some of the most advanced technologies, the Russian president noted.
The Naro-Fominsk small rocket ship, which the president called as one of the most successful projects of its class, is able to carry out strikes with long-range cruise missiles. He said the Lev Chernavin was a modern minesweeper with a unique hull.
"We will undoubtedly implement all our plans for the construction of ships and qualitatively strengthen Russia's naval power in all strategic directions," Putin added. ■
