Ceremony to present state decorations of the Russian Federation

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, good afternoon.

Welcome to the Moscow Kremlin. Today, current workers and veterans of the defence industry have gathered here.

Tomorrow, our country will celebrate Gunsmith Day, so, first of all, let me congratulate all current workers and veterans of the Russian defence industry on their upcoming professional holiday.

The defence industry complex comprises more than 5,000 organisations, ranging from major industrial holdings, small and medium-sized enterprises to design bureaus and innovation centres. They employ more than 3.5 million people, among them scientists, designers, engineers, testing specialists, managers, and highly qualified experts. Through your hard work and talent, you make a tremendous contribution to strengthening the defence capability and security of our Motherland by creating modern and in many ways unique weapons and equipment that are rightfully considered, both at home and abroad, among the most reliable and effective in the world.

Today, defence industry workers and their colleagues in related sectors ensure the uninterrupted supply of the most critical military equipment to troops participating in the special military operation, helping our personnel effectively carry out their combat missions.

I would particularly like to highlight that, since the start of the special military operation, defence industry enterprises have bulked their production volumes. For instance, the output and delivery of munitions and weaponry, including precision-guided missiles and shells, have increased more than 22-fold. Deliveries of radar systems have grown nearly five-fold, while those of armoured vehicles and tanks have increased 2.5 times over. Unmanned aerial vehicles are being supplied to the troops without interruption; depending on the class, their production has increased manifold, with output in some categories rising by dozens of times.

To be continued.