MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - Russia's Armed Forces were consistently modernized in the past few years, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We are taking them to a modern level, which fully meets the requirements of the 21st century," he said at a meeting held in honor of graduates of military academies and universities in the Kremlin on Thursday.
"It is obvious that only a mobile, highly effective army and fleet can resolve the strategic task of ensuring the security, sovereignty and national interests of Russia," Putin said.
"The main thing is to reliably protect our citizens from potential military threats," Putin said.
Putin said that "the practice of surprise inspections of the readiness of the units and junctions of all arms and branches of the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces, like the one recently conducted in the Central Military District, will definitely continue."