On Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decorated Strategic Missile Forces servicemen with government awards during his visit to the Taman missile division in the Saratov region ahead of Defender of the Fatherland Day celebrated on February 23. Addressing servicemen, he said that the missile forces would receive up-to-date weapons and equipment under a major modernization program.
The president watched a missile regiment go on combat duty, talked to commanders and oversaw a combat training session. In the late 1990s, the Taman division was the first in Russia to be equipped with fifth-generation Topol-M ballistic missiles.
Congratulating the servicemen on the upcoming holiday, Dmitry Medvedev stressed that the Missile Forces were a key element of Russia’s Nuclear Forces and would remain a government priority: "A whole set of very important decisions aimed at re-equipping the Strategic Missile Forces have been passed over lately. Huge funds have been earmarked and we are certain that those decisions will be implemented within the fixed time frames. Re-equipment will continue until we see that all that needs to be done to bring our country’s missile defense capacity to the necessary level has been done".
Commenting on his earlier statement on the U.S.-European missile defense system in his annual address to Parliament, President Medvedev said that it did not mean the beginning of a confrontation with the West. But once again, he made it very clear that Russia would take retaliatory action if its calls for a joint system went unheeded or in case the United States refused to abandon its missile defense plans in Europe.
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