Russia is set to mark Navy Day on Sunday with naval parades on virtually all the country's fleet bases, chief among them the parade in the naval capital of St. Petersburg.
Some 15,000 sailors and navy officers will man over 250 vessels across three oceans and half a dozen seas.
The main parade in St. Petersburg will see Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Navy Commander-in-Chief Nikolay Yevmenov review nearly 50 of Russia's most advanced vessels, warships, submarines and more. The column of cutting edge Russian seafaring technology will be led by a small 18th Century-styled wooden vessel named Poltava.
The wooden ship is a replica of the Russian navy's first vessel and was reconstructed according to the hand-drawn sketches of Peter the Great, first Russian emperor and progenitor of the naval forces.
The entire history of Russia will be on display this way, sailing through the Neva River in a single file, about 820 feet between each vessel, for two hours.
Two legendary Soviet weapons that played a prominent role in World War II, the T-34 tank and the Katyusha multiple rocket launcher, will be on board one naval carrier symbolizing a holistic defensive approach of Russian armed forces, tying in naval traditions with those of the Land Forces and the Aerospace Forces.
The flyover will also feature the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik among nearly 50 aircraft. This particular 1941 model was recovered from under a lake in 2012 and has since been restored to full working order.
Apart from historical significance, the parade will boast a formidable fleet of state-of-the-art marine and submarine vessels from the Baltic, Black Sea, Northern and Pacific Fleets as well as the Caspian Flotilla. All the attention will be drawn by the newest behemoth of the pack, frigate Admiral Kasatonov, which was joined the navy days before the parade.
Four Varshavyanka attack submarines will also break the surface to take part in the parade.
Altogether, the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland will witness 46 major marine vessels sail through, nine Grachonok-class anti-saboteur ships, six landing craft utility ships, four reconnaissance vessels, four submarines, three research vessels, two corvettes and a frigate among others.
Shunned throughout modern Russia's history, the Naval Day was designated for the last Sunday of July by Putin in 2017. The president's decree revived a key military remembrance day that was observed in the Soviet Union. It was decreed by the politburo to take place on the anniversary of the 1714 Battle of Gangut, Peter the Great's first major naval victory.
Throughout the 20th Century, this day was a rare nod from communist Soviet leadership to their imperial, monarchical past. The Navy Day fell by the wayside in the turbulent 1980s and 90s, but with modern revival, the Navy Day draws one uninterrupted line through Russian history in all its different iterations. (Sputnik/ )
( With inputs from ANI )