MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A naval base that will be built in the Kuril Islands in the Russian Far East will be capable of receiving any ships, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federal Council's Committee on Defense and Security Frants Klintsevich told Sputnik.
"The base, if it is built, will be able to receive any ships, including capital ships," Klintsevich said, adding that work would start soon.
According to the Senator, it is expected that work on the Navy base will begin in the near future. "Everything goes strictly according to plan, without emergency jerks, the work will begin in the near future," he added.
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In February, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the division would be stationed in the archipelago in 2017.
In May 2017, the press service of the Eastern Military District announced that new armaments and military equipment, including drones, were entering the arsenal of the division.
Later, during a visit to Japan, Shoigu pointed out that the division "is being created not against someone, but exclusively for the protection of the territory of the Russian Federation."
