Putin touts Russia's 'Arctic power' with launch of nuclear icebreakers - Reuters

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin connected Tuesday touted Russia's Arctic powerfulness astatine a flag-raising ceremonial and dock motorboat for 2 nuclear-powered icebreakers that volition guarantee year-round navigation successful the Western Arctic.

Presiding via video nexus from the Kremlin astatine the motorboat ceremonial successful the erstwhile imperial superior of St Petersburg successful bluish Russia, Putin said specified icebreakers were of strategical value for the country.

"Both icebreakers were laid down arsenic portion of a ample serial task and are portion of our large-scale, systematic enactment to re-equip and replenish the home icebreaker fleet, to fortify Russia's presumption arsenic a large Arctic power," Putin said.

The Arctic is taking connected greater strategical value owed to clime change, arsenic a shrinking crystal headdress opens up caller oversea lanes. Vast lipid and state resources prevarication successful Russia's Arctic regions, including a liquefied earthy state works connected the Yamal Peninsula.

Putin smiled arsenic the Yakutia atomic icebreaker was launched into the h2o successful the docks and stood arsenic the Russian nationalist anthem graced the raising of the Russian emblem connected the Ural icebreaker which volition statesman enactment successful December.

The 173.3-metre (569 feet) Yakutia, with a displacement of up to 33,540 tonnes, tin smash done crystal of up to 3 metres. It volition participate work successful 2024.

Two different icebreakers successful the aforesaid series, the Arktika and the Sibir, are already successful service, and another, the Chukotka, is scheduled for 2026.

Putin said a super-powerful atomic 209-metre icebreaker known arsenic "Rossiya", with a displacement of up to 71,380 tonnes, would beryllium completed by 2027. It volition beryllium capable to interruption done crystal 4 metres thick.

"They are needed for the survey and improvement of the Arctic, to guarantee safe, sustainable navigation successful this region, to summation postulation on the Northern Sea Route," Putin said.

"The improvement of this astir important transport corridor volition let Russia to much afloat unlock its export imaginable and found businesslike logistics routes, including to Southeast Asia."

Putin, who came to powerfulness successful 1999 promising to extremity the chaos triggered by the illness of the Soviet Union, has softly strengthened Russia's beingness successful the Arctic, wherever Russia has much than 24,000 km (15,000 miles) of coastline stretching from the Barents Sea to the Sea of Okhotsk.

Since 2005, Russia has reopened tens of Arctic Soviet-era subject bases, modernised its navy, and developed caller hypersonic missiles designed to evade U.S. sensors and defences.

Arctic experts accidental it would instrumentality the West astatine slightest 10 years to catch up with Russia's subject successful the region, if it chose to bash so.

Reporting Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan

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