Russia celebrates Navy Day with parade in St. Petersburg (VIDEO)

More than 200 ships have taken part, including small missile and anti-submarine vessels and minesweepers

Russia celebrated Navy Day with a spectacular parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday. This year, it featured over 200 ships of various classes along with over 100 pieces of combat equipment.

Russian Navy Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of July. This year, sailors from the Northern, Pacific, Baltic, and Caspian Fleets, as well as the Russian naval base in Syria, took part in the festivities. In total, around 15,000 people participated.

The parade also featured ships and military personnel from Russia’s foreign partners: The Chinese torpedo vessel Jiao Zuo, Algerian training ship La Soummam, and Indian frigate INS Tabar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the parade and gave a speech, praising the Navy as a “reliable guardian of our naval borders” and the country’s pride and glory. He pledged to continue working to strengthen the Navy’s capabilities through training more personnel, equipping naval vessels with hypersonic missiles and boosting coastal infrastructure, intelligence, and air defense.