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Around 4,000 sailors, and over 50 ships, boats and submarines took part in the parade as well as 48 naval aviation aircplanes and helicopters.

The ships included the Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser, the Admiral Kasatonov frigate, the Vice Admiral Kulakov large landing ship, the Gremyashchy and the Stoiky missile corvettes, the Pyotr Morgunov and the Minsk large landing ships, and the Alexander Obukhov and the Vladimir Yemelyanov minesweepers. The static part of the parade featured for the first time the Knyaz Vladimir submarine strategic missile cruiser of the Borey-A project.

Prior to the main part of the parade, the head of state sailed aboard a cutter around the combat ships gathered in parade formation in the Bay of Finland and in the inner harbor of Kronstadt.

The President greeted the crews and congratulated them on Navy Day.

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Speech at the Main Naval Parade

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade sailors, midshipmen, petty officers, officers and admirals,

Dear veterans,

Citizens of Russia,

My congratulations on Navy Day.

This holiday, with the grandeur of the parades’ rigour and beauty, marks the unity of all generations of defenders of the Motherland’s maritime borders.

This is significant and dear to all of Russia, to our people because our Fatherland was gathered and strengthened while its glory and grandeur were being forged by our military sailors’ valour, their combat courage and greatness.

We love and honour our Navy and rightly take pride in its outstanding heroic history and the names of the brilliant fleet commanders and talented shipbuilders – all those who, through the centuries, bravely fought and won in the name of the Fatherland, made legendary geographical discoveries and gave humankind the most valuable knowledge of the unique diversity and beauty of our vast world.

The scale and versatility of the strategic tasks our Navy has always solved are amazing and bring admiration and pride. This October the Navy will be 325 years old.

In the shortest possible time Russia has taken its rightful place among the leading global marine powers and travelled a great road from Peter the Great’s small boat to the powerful ocean-faring ships and nuclear-powered missile submarines of today. It acquired effective long- and short-range marine aviation, reliable coastal defence systems, cutting edge hypersonic high-precision weapons systems which are still unrivalled in the world, and which we constantly and successfully improve.

Today, the Russian Navy has everything it needs to secure the defence of our native country and our national interests. We are capable of detecting any submarine, surface or airborne adversary and dealing them an imminent strike if necessary.

Russia has ensured its naval presence in almost all regions of the World Ocean, and the faithful successors to the marine combat glory of our Fatherland keep watch in the northern and southern latitudes.

Navy service has never been easy, yet it has always been among the most honoured and necessary endeavours. Everyone knows skilful sailors and knowledgeable commanders who serve in our Baltic, Northern, Pacific and Black Sea Fleets and in the Caspian Flotilla. They are also among the crews of the combat ships, boats and logistics vessels that will pass in the proud wake of our parade formation today.

I know that the glory of St Andrews’s flag will never fade thanks to the tenacity of our naval sailors, maritime pilots, marines and coastal unit personnel, and their loyalty to the Fatherland and the Russian Navy.

Let me remind you of Peter I’s precepts which are reflected in detail in the Naval Charter – to never lower the colours, the ship’s flag before anyone, to not retreat and to not surrender the ship to the enemy.

Happy holiday! Long live the Russian Navy!

Hurrah!