Putin, who led major naval parade on the occasion of Russia’s Navy Day, pointed out his country is confidently carrying out major tasks of the national maritime policy, steadily increasing its fleet.

He noted that among those new ships is the Mercuri missile corvette. “It is gratifying the tradition of naming Russian Navy ships has been revived,” Putin added.

The new Mercuri also carries the St George naval flag as a sign of the inviolability of our naval traditions, symbol of courage, bravery and steadfastness of our naval officers, Putin stressed.

During the 2023 Naval Parade, Russia showed 45 ships, boats and submarines, as well as nearly 3,000 navy officers. In keeping with tradition, Putin passed by boat along the parade lines of warships in the waters of the Gulf of Finland, the Neva River and the Kronstadt harbour.

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