MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The Russian Navy plays a key role in ensuring Russia's sovereignty and freedom, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu in his congratulatory message on the occasion of Navy Day.

"Today the Navy plays a key role in ensuring the sovereignty and freedom of our Motherland. It is an important component of national defense. Its personnel possesses modern knowledge and skills in the control of complex naval equipment, carries the watch with dignity, successfully fulfills the tasks it faces," the statement on the ministry's website reads.

Shoigu expressed his gratitude to the veterans of the Navy, whose brave and selfless service is an example for the younger generation of defenders of the Motherland.

He also congratulated servicemen, workers of shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises, military units, scientific and educational organizations and enterprises of the defense-industrial complex.

The top defense official wished all the participants of the holiday good health, happiness, strength, new successes and achievements.

Navy Day is celebrated in Russia on the last Sunday of July in accordance with the Russian president’s decree. The main naval parade will be held on July 30 in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt, with the participation of ships and auxiliary vessels. Naval parades will also be held in other coastal cities: Vladivostok, Baltiysk, Severomorsk, Novorossiysk, Kaspiysk and the Syrian port of Tartous.