Ships from bygone eras sailed alongside the Navy’s modern fleet in the Neva River in St. Petersburg
Russia celebrated its Navy Day on Sunday with annual parades across the country, including the main one in the city of St. Petersburg.
This year’s event marked 350 years since the birth of Peter the Great, the 18th-century Russian emperor who created the country’s first regular navy and founded the city that bears his name, which is now Russia’s second largest.
The parade was led by a full-size replica of the ship of the line Poltava, one of many ships commissioned by Peter the Great. The 54-gun battleship was named after a major victory over the invading Swedish army during the Great Northern War (1700-1721).
The landing ship Ivan Pasko was carried aboard Peter the Great’s wooden sailboat called the “Grandfather of the Russian Navy.” The historic ship is normally kept at the Central Naval Museum of St. Petersburg.
The historic sailboat aboard the Russian Navy landing ship Ivan Pasko in St. Petersburg, July 31, 2022. Vladimir Astapkovich / Sputnik
The four-masted barque Sedov, one of the world’s largest sailing ships in operation, also took part in the celebrations. The 100-year-old ship, which is still used to train sailing crews, was built in Germany and handed over to the Soviet Union as part of World War II reparations.
Among the modern ships in the Neva River was the stealthy nuclear-powered Severodvinsk, which is designed for missions under the Arctic ice and equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles. It was the first submarine to launch a Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile in 2021.
The Russian Navy submarine Severodvinsk and barque Sedov in Kronstadt, Russia, July 31, 2022. Mikail Klimentyev/Sputnik
In a speech opening the parade, President Vladimir Putin declared that the Navy would begin receiving the zircons “in the coming months.” The first warship to be armed with the weapon is the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, which conducted the first test of the missile in 2020.
The Russian Navy frigate Admiral Gorshkov in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 31, 2022. Pavel Byrkin / Sputnik
St. Petersburg parade ended with fly-pasts by dozens of naval aircraft, including a group of Su-25 jet fighters, which painted the sky in the Russian flag in white, blue and red.
Pavel Byrkin / Sputnik
(RT.com)
Source: sn.dk
