Putin knows that the way to become a global power is through a great naval power. He seems to realize the great navy dream of the Grand Petro and announces it to the world with ceremonies.

Russia showed its navy muscle by displaying its latest frigates at a parade to mark its Navy Day on the Baltic Sea on Sunday.

The parade, involving more than 4,000 personnel, 43 warships and submarines, and 31 aircraft, was held near Saint Petersburg and nearby Kronshtadt. It shows the Navy is ready to fight back any aggressor, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the parade.

The ships included the Admiral Kasatonov frigate, the Gremyashchiy-class corvette, the Kronshtadt submarine of project 677, the small Mytishchi and the Serpukhov rocket ships and the Ivan Antonov minesweeper.

The Navy Day is celebrated across Russia to honor "all those who at different times in history served Russia faithfully and loyally, and who continue doing this on its borders and far away from the homeland", Putin said.

The parade of warships in the Bay of Sevastopol was reviewed by Black Sea Fleet Commander Igor Osipov.

Lining up in the bay were the submarine Novorossiysk, the air-cushion missile ship Samum, the frigate Admiral Makarov, the missile gunboat R-60 and other warships.

At the celebration of the Russian Navy Day in Sevastopol, spectators would for the first time see raising of the flag of the Russian Imperial battleship Imperatritsa Mariya, which was the flagship in the legendary Battle of Sinop in the course of the Crimean War (1853-1856). The flag raised on a pole next to a 19th century cannon, which was fired to open the festivities in the Bay of Sevastopol.

Vira Maritime