Putin announces plans to modernise Russian navy, which has lost 30% of warships to Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the commissioning of a new nuclear-powered submarine on Thursday.

At the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s northwestern Archangelsk region, Putin oversaw raising the navy’s flag on the newly built Knyaz Pozharsky nuclear submarine, emphasizing his focus on bolstering Russia’s strategic Naval forces.

Speaking at the shipyard, Putin pledged to carry out plans to modernize the Russian navy.

While the ceremony was meant to demonstrate military might, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been dragging on for almost three-and-a-half years, with Moscow incurring heavy naval losses. Kyiv managed to destroy 30% of Russia's warships in the ongoing war, despite not having a navy of its own.

The Knyaz Pozharsky is the eighth Borei-class atomic-powered submarine to enter service. Each of them is armed with 16 nuclear-tipped Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Putin announced that two more such submarines are under construction.

They are part of Russia’s nuclear triad, which also includes land-based nuclear missiles and nuclear-armed strategic bombers.

Separately, Putin expressed his "sincere condolences" after a plane crashed in the Far East region, killing all those onboard.