Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pledged a huge cash injection for the nation's military. He says the plan, is aimed at finally overcoming the consequences of the years, when the army and navy were seriously underfinanced. 640 billion US dollars has been earmarked for the project.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the navy shipyard SevMash in the northern town of Severodvinsk on the White Sea on Monday. Addressing government ministers and top military officers, Putin said the government will allocate significant funds through 2020 to modernize and re-arm the country's military.

He said, "We are allocating very serious, significant funds for the rearmament programme. I am even scared to pronounce this figure, 20 trillion roubles. Our armed forces should be equipped with advanced machines such as this one, submarine project 955, as soon as possible,"

Russia's armed forces have demanded an increase in spending to modernize its aging infrastructure and weapons systems after years of insufficient funding which undermined its performance in local conflicts after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

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