Putin Admits Russian Navy's Weaknesses

Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted the Russian Navy is vulnerable after reportedly losing a third of the Black Sea fleet during the war in Ukraine.

Russia plans to "comprehensively upgrade" naval forces, Putin said, as Moscow attempts to rapidly rebuild a fleet that has played a crucial role in his ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Putin told Russian News Agency TASS: "To increase the combat resilience of the naval forces, it is necessary to strengthen them and pay special attention to the rapid implementation of remote threat detection systems, including those from unmanned aerial vehicles."

"It is necessary to protect our fleet from possible attacks already on the distant approaches to naval bases and areas of operation of our ships," the Russian President instructed. "To develop reconnaissance aircraft of the fleet, to build up the forces and means of conducting electronic reconnaissance and electronic warfare."

Mr Putin commented on the Russian Navy at a meeting on shipbuilding issues in Moscow on June 26.

The authoritarian leader said the Russian Navy must be protected from distant attacks, which requires it to be equipped with modern threat detection systems.

Russia is receiving more warships and boats annually, Putin claimed at a meeting on shipbuilding.

Putin plans "to comprehensively upgrade the Navy, including its ship, aircraft, and coastal components, as well as the infrastructure of bases, to strengthen its positions in the strategically crucial areas of the world ocean, and to drastically improve its combat potential."

"A lot has been done in this area, as our Navy is getting new ships," Putin said adding that "repairs and profound refurbishments of equipment" are being carried out.

He claimed that more than 40 ships and boats, will be given to the Navy in 2024 compared to 24 vessels, which were, provided in 2023, and 33 in 2023.

One of the challenges Moscow faces throughout the conflict is funding Putin's war machine despite facing a wave of sanctions internationally.

Earlier in June, America and its allies unveiled a new round of sanctions designed to target Russian financial institutions and individuals associated with them.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in Brussels today to sign security agreements with the European Union, which will pledge to keep delivering military aid to Kyiv for the foreseeable future.

It comes as a senior Russian diplomat warned the US to pay attention to potential plans to alter Moscow's nuclear doctrine to fit changes in international relations.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told Izvestia that Moscow did not rule out downgrading diplomatic relations with Western powers over allegedly holding "Russophobic" attitudes.

Ryabkov supported Putin's assertions that Russia's nuclear doctrine was being reassessed.

He said that the doctrine was created "in a different era and different circumstances".

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