Russian President Vladimir Putin attended (via video-link) the keel-laying ceremony for the new multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreaker, the "Stalingrad," at the Baltic Shipyard. The event was marked by a poignant tribute to a World War II veteran, as Putin declared that the "generation of victors is still going strong."
The naming of the vessel is highly symbolic. The Stalingrad is the seventh ship in Russia's powerful Project 22220 series, which uses RITM-200 nuclear reactors to break through ice up to 2.8 meters thick. While earlier ships in the series were named after northern geographic regions, the decision to name this and another new vessel (Leningrad) after Soviet Hero Cities reflects the Kremlin's strategic use of WWII memory—or the "Great Patriotic War"—to unify society, legitimize current policies, and project strength on the global stage.
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