During his working visit to Istanbul, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited shipyards where the construction of multi-purpose military sea ships (corvettes) for the Ukrainian Navy is underway.

"Visit to Turkey. Istanbul. Shipyards where corvettes are built for our Naval Forces. I got acquainted with the level of readiness and equipment of the corvette 'Ivan Mazepa.' I talked with the Ukrainian Navy servicemen. Thank you for your service. We add strength to our state," the president said in the Telegram channel.

The head of state also got familiar with the progress of construction of the second Ukrainian Ada-class corvette, which earlier on Friday was named after Hetman Ivan Vygovsky.

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic of Turkey and all defense companies of Turkey and Ukraine that work together.

As Zelenskyy's press service reported, on the Ivan Mazepa ship presented two Ukrainian military personnel who are taking courses in the operation and maintenance of the corvette with "Defender of the Homeland" medals.

"Thank you for your service, for the fact that Ukraine is very respected here. You know that we are waiting for you in Ukraine. To make our Security and Defense Forces even more powerful," he said.

Construction of the Ivan Mazepa corvette started in April 2021. In September 2023, a ceremony to lay the keel of the ship took place. It was planned that in 2022 the corvette would be transported to Ukraine, and already in 2024 it was supposed to become part of the Ukrainian Navy. Due to the war launched by Russia against Ukraine, the dispatch of the corvette was delayed.

The Ada-class corvettes are modern littoral ships that have anti-submarine warfare and offshore patrol capabilities. The concept of the design and combat use of the Ada-class corvette is similar to the concept of the Freedom-class littoral ships developed by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy. Ada-class corvettes have more powerful weapons and powerful radar and sonar systems.