Putin commissions two nuclear submarines and says more are to come

Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to the northern city of Severodvinsk on Monday to attend a televised flag-raising ceremony for two nuclear submarines, the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander the Third.

During his visit to the Sevmash shipbuilding yard, Putin said both nuclear-powered vessels would soon take up duty in the Pacific.

He emphasised that they were part of two separate series of submarines that Russia is rolling out.

"We will quantitatively strengthen the combat readiness of the Russian Navy, our naval power in the Arctic, the Far East, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea - the most important strategic areas of the world's oceans," he said.

Putin, who last Friday announced he would seek another presidential term in an election due in March, has repeatedly talked up the potential of Russia's new generation of weapons, particularly its nuclear systems, and their value as a deterrent to the West.