Russian Defence Minister says that Russia has world's most up-to-date army

"Everyone - some out of spite, others with appreciation - understands and acknowledges today that the Russian army holds almost 71 percent of state-of-the-art arms and military hardware.  This is the highest percentage among all armies of the world," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu said at a meeting in Rostov-on-Don.

The minister added that strategic nuclear forces could boast of even a higher level of modern weapons - 83 percent. Shoygu also said that over the past 8-10 years, Russia has managed to dramatically change both the state of affairs in the armed forces and popular attitude to army service. 

“Nine years ago we would be told that we were showing nothing but tin cans at the parade, but no one says such things today anymore," Sergei Shoygu said. 

At a meeting of the collegium of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu noted that NATO's attempts to counteract the normalization of situations in a number of countries of the Caucasus and the Middle East pushed Russia towards strategic deterrence measures, particularly near Russia's southern borders. In 2020 alone, Russia's southern troops received more than 3,200 units of modern weapons and military equipment, Shoygu added.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's modern-day army was a combination of advanced technologies, innovations, and science. 

Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu also said earlier that the funding for arms supplies for the Russian army was going ahead of schedule with defense order placement rate amounting to 95 percent, which was higher than the year before.