President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent his greetings to the participants in the launch of the nuclear icebreaker Sibir. His congratulatory message was published on the official Kremlin website.

"I strongly believe that this powerful icebreaker equipped with cutting-edge technology will greatly enhance the potential of the Russian nuclear fleet, and will help deliver on important and multi-faceted objectives the Russian economy is facing, as well as consolidate Russia's standing as a great sea power," the message reads.

The twin-reactor 170-meter Sibir, a Project 22220 icebreaker, was launched on September 22 at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. After that, its construction will continue afloat. The nuclear icebreaker became the first serial model under Project 22220.

In his message, the president noted that successful implementation of a project of this scale is a major achievement for the Baltic Shipyard.

According to TASS News Agency, during the launching ceremony, ROSATOM State Corporation Director General Alexei Likhachyov said that the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg could work on a series of unique 120 MW icebreakers.

"We are of course satisfied to note that this is a serial model that will be followed by another one, the Ural. But we want to go even further. What I want is that we leave this ceremony dreaming about launching an icebreaker of a whole new class and new level, the icebreaker Lider that would have twice the power of this one. Let us work together on this series, develop our expertise and set even more ambitious goals," Likhachyov said, TASS reported.

The project to build a 120 MW icebreaker is under discussion. It could cost as much as 70 billion rubles.