MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia will continue to enhance the combat readiness of its naval forces, and will implement all the plans for the construction of submarines and surface ships, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.
The Russian leader made the remarks during a flag-raising ceremony for two nuclear-powered submarines, the Emperor Alexander III and Krasnoyarsk, which will join the Russian navy.
"We will quantitatively strengthen the combat readiness of the Russian Navy, our naval power in the Arctic, the Far East, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea," the president was cited by a Kremlin report as saying at the ceremony, which took place at the Sevmash Shipyard in the Russian city of Severodvinsk.
"We are consistently equipping the navy with the most modern equipment and weapons and ...increasing serial production," Putin said.
The Emperor Alexander III is the seventh Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine commissioned into service. The Krasnoyarsk is the fourth Yasen-class multipurpose nuclear-powered vessel. Both of them are equipped with Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The Russian leader said that all the country's Borei-class vessels and the new submarine will "reliably protect Russia's security, and ensure strategic deterrence for years to come."
He said three more Borei-class submarines are being built, so are five Yasen-class vessels, including the Arkhangelsk nuclear-powered cruiser submarine. ■