The astonishing image shows a young male soldier in full military uniform having wires attached all around his head, following a diagram in the background. The International Military Technical Forum, which is being held in Moscow, has been organised by the Russia’s Ministry of Defence and is being co-hosted by 12 countries – including China and Iran. The week-long annual event started on Monday at the Patriot Convention and Exhibition Centre in the Russian capital, and ends on Sunday.
The event is the eighth edition since its establishment in 2005 and according to Russian army statements, 36 Government contracts worth $8.6billion (£7.1billion) are expected to be signed with Russian and foreign defence industry companies.
At last year’s forum, the Russian Defence Ministry signed 41 contracts worth $8.3billion (£6.9billion) with 27 defence partners for the delivery of 1,300 new weapon systems and the refurbishment of 150 existing systems.
Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony this week, with more than 1,500 Russian and foreign defence industries companies displayed nearly 28,000 military and civilian products.
During his speech on Monday, he issued a chilling message to Russia’s enemies as his country’s war in Ukraine continues.
He said: “We are ready to offer our allies and partners the most modern types of weapons, from small arms to armoured vehicles and artillery, from warplanes to drones.
“These guns are in demand among military professionals all over the world for their reliability, quality, and most importantly, their high efficiency.
“Almost all of them have been used many times in real military operations.”
Putin said Russia could offer new models and systems, adding: “We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, about combat systems based on new physical principles.
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“Many of them are years, or maybe decades ahead of their foreign counterparts, and in terms of tactical and technical characteristics they are significantly superior to them.”
Western military experts have have continued to cast what they consider as a poor performance of Russian troops and weaponry in the war with Ukraine that could potentially make Moscow’s arms exports less attractive to buyers.
Ukraine has been successful in utilising U.S.-supplied weaponry, especially HIMARS advanced rocket systems, with Russia taking a series of major blows in the past week, including the devastation of an airbase in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
But Putin is downplaying any struggles, insisting forces in Russia and its proxies in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine have been fulfilling all their tasks.
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He said: “Step by step they are liberating the land of Donbas.”
The latest comments from Putin follow a rhetoric from he and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who have talked up the potential for Russia to cooperate with allies including China, India and Iran to build a new international order.
Putin added: “I want to emphasize that Russia stands for the broadest comprehensive development military-technical cooperation.
“Today in conditions of confidence in the emerging multipolar world, this is especially important.
“We highly appreciate the fact that our country has many like-minded allies and partners on different continents.
“These are the states that do not succumb to the so-called hegemon, their leaders show a real masculine character and do not bend.”