While shipbuilding in Ukraine is finally in decline, and bets are placed on ships decommissioned in the United States, Russia is regaining its status as an ocean power.
Military expert, captain of the 1st rank and member of the All-Russian organization “Officers of Russia” Vasily Dandykin stated this in a comment to PolitNavigator, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The expert noted that what is especially noteworthy in this sense is that the Crimean shipyards, where two modern landing ships were laid down the day before, also got involved.
“The laying is a historical moment in the history of our fleet, because it is an indicator that Russia is returning to the ocean. Not just to the distant sea zone, but to the ocean. These are ships of the ocean zone that can appear anywhere, including Venezuela and so on, which can afford to take thousands of marines on board.
This is a very important point. There haven't been ships like this for a long time. And this is significant, because we have now shown that we are not just some kind of regional power, we are a sea and ocean power. What happened will not improve the mood of Ukraine, of course, but it will not improve the mood of America or the NATO countries either.
Our ships are in many ways better than the Mistrals that France denied us. In particular, they are adapted to operate in our seas, including the Arctic. Another ten years will pass, and our fleet will definitely be among the three leading fleets in the world,” Dandykin said.
The day before, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took part in the laying of new landing ships in Kerch. We are talking about Project 23900 helicopter carriers, like the French Mistrals, which were supposed to enter the Russian Navy, but the contract fell through after the return of Crimea.