July 26 was Navy Day in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin met in St. Petersburg with the commanders of the Pacific, Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets, as well as the Caspian Flotilla, to hear reports on the current security landscape and missions. He had a separate meeting with naval personnel where he took questions.
Putin made a number of points in response to questions from naval personnel, including that Russian Navy participation in international exercises shows that Russia is anything but isolated. “Their scope indicates that attempts to isolate Russia even in such a sensitive area as defense and security are going up in smoke,” Putin said. “There are a great number of countries that feel friendly towards Russia and understand the tasks we are handling to ensure our security and strengthen the multipolar world… The growing scope of joint drills speaks volumes.”
Putin stressed the Russian Navy’s “enormous role in the nuclear triad” of Russian deterrence forces, as the submarine fleet “is equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles to deter any enemy and to inflict unacceptable damage to it in the event of direct aggression against the Russian Federation or threats to Russia’s sovereignty.”
