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Mr Putin marked Background information Navy Day Navy Day by laying flowers at the monument to Peter the Great, the founder of Russia’s Navy. He then inspected the Baltic Fleet’s combat vessels from aboard a patrol boat, greeted the crews and congratulated them on the holiday.

Ships taking part in the naval parade including the frigate Admiral of the Soviet Navy Gorshkov, communications vessel Yury Ivanov, the destroyer Nastoichivy, the large landing ship Kaliningrad, the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, the corvette Steregushchy, the diesel-powered submarine Stary Oskol, and the minesweeper Alexei Obukhov.

The President also attended a military sports festival marking the holiday.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade officers, warrant officers and sailors, veterans,

I congratulate you on Navy Day. I congratulate everyone defending our country’s maritime borders, keeping watch while on missions far from home, on combat duty on the ships and at the bases, and working in the shipbuilding industry. Navy Day is one of our country’s most beloved and popular holidays.

We all have great respect for our country’s navy, which Russia has deserved reason to be proud of. The navy was founded by Peter the Great and won glory and victories right from the start, including here on the Baltic.

Since then, the navy has grown stronger and its glory has shone ever greater. The courage of sailors, talent of our shipbuilders, and audacious spirit of our famous pioneers, explorers and naval commanders affirmed Russia’s status as a great sea power.

We believe this status places tremendous responsibility on us before history and before our forebears, who built Russia’s maritime glory, and, of course, before future generations too, to whom we must pass on a strong and modern navy.

Much has been accomplished over the last years. New combat and support ships have been commissioned, new submarines for our strategic forces have left the docks, and we are modernising our marine aviation, coastal forces, and key naval bases.

Our navy successfully guarantees our country’s defence capability and protects our national interests. This includes the Baltic Fleet, which is performing its missions well not just here in the Baltic, where it is based, but it is carrying our flag with honour in other parts of the world’s oceans too.

I am sure that everyone serving in the navy feels boundless devotion to their duty and their fatherland. Patriotism is a sacred emotion for those in the navy. It is handed down from one generation to the next as the highest moral value. Strong moral foundations, the navy’s distinctive culture, strict discipline, and modern skills and knowledge help in serving at sea, in difficult conditions, with honour, building on the traditions laid by our predecessors, and carrying out responsible national missions in worthy fashion.

Once more, I congratulate everyone who has tied their lives and fates to Russia’s navy, all the veterans, everyone now in port or at sea, and everyone waiting back at home.

Happy holiday! Glory to Russia’s navy!