MOSCOW -

The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was attacked by a Ukrainian drone on Sunday morning, nor the gloomy St. For President Vladimir Putin, it included new positions and messages of defiance.

Suddenly, Putin announced the cancellation of the "Nautical Doctrine" that he had approved in 2015, and the adoption of a new doctrine for the Russian Federation as a result of the current situation on the international scene.

The new version stipulates - among other things - the protection of national interests, especially in the Kurils and the Arctic, which he said his country will defend "by all means", in addition to the adoption of a new mechanism in cases of military readiness and alertness.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's participation in the Navy Day, where he announced the new doctrine of the Navy (Reuters)

confrontation doctrine

The provisions of the new doctrine - which was also published on the Kremlin's website - were more explicit than the previous ones, and stipulated that Russia's independent foreign and domestic policy is opposed by the United States and its allies, who "seek to maintain their hegemony in the world", and that the "role of the power factor" remains high.

According to the document, the main challenges and threats facing Russia now are the expansion of NATO, the US path to hegemony in the global ocean, and its and its allies' desire to restrict Russia's access to its resources, as well as the provocation of regional conflicts with Russia by a number of countries regarding its coastal and island territories.

It also focused on the risks represented by Russia's heavy dependence on maritime transport and the work of offshore pipeline systems, the failure of the fleet's practical research to keep pace with modern requirements and the scale of tasks, and international sanctions against shipbuilders of the industrial complex and oil and gas companies.


priority areas

The new document divides the areas of ensuring Russia's national interests in the global environment, according to their importance, into vital, important and other areas.

It included areas "that are directly related to the development of the state, the protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the strengthening of defense, and decisively affect the social and economic development of the country."

Those areas include the internal seas and territorial waters of the Russian Federation, the economic zone of the country and its continental shelf, the Arctic Basin, including the water area of ​​the Northern Sea Route, its waters in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea.

Russian marines during a military parade in what is known as Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over "Nazi Germany" in World War II (Reuters)

Priorities of Russian Naval Policy

The Russian president also spoke of a roadmap for the development of a high-tech shipbuilding complex in the Far East, including the construction of large-tonnage aircraft carriers.

The naval doctrine was adopted in Russia in 2001. In the summer of 2015, Putin modified it due to "NATO expansion" to the east and the Crimean crisis.

The changing conditions in the world were always reflected in Russia's tendency to strengthen its position as a naval power.

During the show, Moscow was keen to show off its rarest combat naval vessels.

40 submarines, ships and boats, 42 aircraft and 3,500 soldiers participated in the parade.

But the most prominent presence was the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov", which presented the military parade.

It is not only the largest ship participating in the parade, but is considered the pride of the entire Russian fleet, and has a strong ability to fight on and under water.

On this occasion, the hypersonic "Zircon" missile, which plays an important role in the current war with Ukraine, was also tested.

The Russian Naval War Fleet is one of the 3 formations of the Russian Armed Forces, designed to conduct combat operations at sea, to ensure the defense and security of the Russian Federation.

He is considered the successor and heir of the Soviet Navy.

The role of the Russian Navy usually remains behind the scenes.

A few days before the outbreak of war with Ukraine, several Russian ships passed through the strait north to the Black Sea, but the backbone of the group remained in the Mediterranean in anticipation of an intervention or a sudden escalation of the conflict by the United States and NATO.

And at the same time to prevent Western ships from entering the Black Sea easily.

A Russian missile carrier arrives in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol (Reuters)

essential role

At the moment, the naval fleet plays a key role in the war with Ukraine.

On its first day, the fleet participated - with other Russian forces - in a surprise operation against the Ukrainian forces, which resulted in the destruction of 74 military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine, including 11 airports, 18 radar systems, combat helicopters and 4 Turkish-made drones.

On February 26, the Russian fleet carried out a special operation that led to the destruction of 8 naval vessels belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces.

It is due to him the largest role in causing a major destruction of the Ukrainian naval fleet.

A few days ago, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Igor Osipov, announced that Russia had fully controlled the Sea of ​​Azov and imposed its control over the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

But even long before the war with Ukraine, the Russian fleet began to expand its reach, marching off Ireland and the British coast, as well as into the Mediterranean, to join the Russian navy deployed there, as well as a detachment of ships in the Pacific.

The cruiser "Avura" is one of the oldest pieces in the Russian Navy and has been turned into a museum (Al-Jazeera)

These are the rules of the Russian Naval War Fleet and the points of concentration:

  • Northern Fleet (Severomorsk).

  • Pacific Fleet (Vladivostok).

  • Black Sea Fleet (Sevastopol).

  • Baltic Fleet (Kaliningrad).

  • Caspian (Caspian) Fleet.

In Russia, festivities in honor of the fleet date back to the time of Peter I, the first Russian emperor who came up with the idea of ​​holding annual sea holidays with parades of ships and salutes of cannons.

The tradition of sea performances came from Europe in 1698, specifically from England.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transformation of the former republics into sovereign states, the fleet was divided among the Caspian states of the CIS.

It was necessary to transfer the Russian Caspian Fleet from Baku to the ports of "Makhachkala" and "Astrakhan", which became the main base of the fleet.