President Vladimir Putin attended Russia’s traditional Navy Day parade of the ships in the Neva River in St. Petersburg. “In 2024, up to 200 ships and vessels of various classes are involved in the Main Naval Parade and military sports festivals as part of the maritime component,” the Defense Ministry said. “More than 100 units of military hardware and up to 15,000 troops are involved in the events. Celebration events include the demonstration of weapons and military hardware samples that are in the service of the Russian Navy.” Similar parades are being held at other Russian naval bases, in the Baltic, Caspian, and Severomorsk naval ports, as well as in Vladivostok and in Tartus, Syria. Participating in the St. Petersburg parade were ships from India, Algeria, and China. The Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun was also in attendance in St. Petersburg.
In his comments, President Putin pointed to the long and glorious history of the Russian Navy, since its founding by Peter the Great. He also used the occasion to comment on the changing world situation and the need for Russia to enhance its military capability.
Putin noted how Russia, after the fall of the Soviet Union, was prepared to discontinue much of its military outreach, trusting that the situation would remain stable and peaceful. The present attitude of the West and, in particular, the proposed deployment of long-range missiles in Germany and the deployment of Typhoon missiles in Denmark has changed the situation entirely, he indicated. He compared the situation to the deployment of the Pershing missiles in Germany during the 1980s, which had led to a serious escalation of tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
“Today, the development of such systems in Russia is nearing completion,” Putin warned. “We will take mirror measures to deploy them, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world,” Putin said. “Today, we are paying increasing attention to Washington’s efforts to escalate tensions in connection with the flights by Russian strategic aircraft. Just to remind you, Russian strategic missile carriers have not performed any air patrols far from our borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia thought this was no longer needed, with the world having changed and the Cold War becoming a thing of the past. However, the United States chose to ignore this unilateral gesture of goodwill and continued patrolling the space in the proximity of our borders,” Putin said.
“So, since 2007, we have resumed such flights as a response to the increased activity from US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft in the regions that we believe are sensitive for us. The move has aimed, among other things, to ensure security in the Asia-Pacific region.”
It should be noted, furthermore, that the Russian naval forces in Russia’s defense policy has become of prime importance. Putin is now placing more emphasis on shipbuilding and strengthening the fleet, a real source of “outreach” for Russian defense forces. The sailing of a combined Russian-Chinese naval group near Alaska has caught the attention of the Pentagon and the White House. But with the continual raising of tensions by these same forces with Russia and China, one can expect that such “encounters” will become even more frequent.
