Ukraine could declare 2017 Year of Navy

12:19, 04.07.2016 1 min read

The next year could be declared the Year of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will allow an increase in funding for its defensive capabilities, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"A possibility is being considered of declaring the next year as the Year of the Naval Forces. Today I am setting the starting point in real reconstruction of the national navy," Poroshenko said during festivities on the occasion of Day of the Ukrainian Naval Forces in Odesa on Sunday, July 3.

On July 3 two new Giurza-M artillery boats entered service in the navy and are being handed over to the navy for battle service tests, he said. The boats have been named Berdiansk and Akkerman, Poroshenko said.

More artillery boats from this series, as well as landing crafts have already been laid down at Ukrainian shipyards, he said.

In the near future, it is possible that the navy will be joined by "vessels of other types, ballistic missile attack systems and aviation," the Ukrainian leader said.