MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry will launch another Meridian-M communications satellite by the end of this year, Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with top commanders on Tuesday.

Russia launched the second upgraded Meridian-M satellite in March this year to maintain the orbital communications cluster. Its operation will provide sustainable communications in the Arctic on an area of over 3 million square kilometers, Shoigu said.

"Another Meridian-M space vehicle will be launched until the end of this year," the defense chief said.

In 2021, Russia fully set up the 24th separate communications brigade of the supreme commander-in-chief to build up the potential of Russian troop command and control, Shoigu said.

In the past five years, over 20 state-of-the-art communications facilities and systems have been set up in Russia and over 110,000 items of advanced communications equipment have been delivered to boost their share to 72%, the defense chief said.