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Zubkov to boost Russia's military and economy “...Keen to demonstrate his allegiance to his boss, Mr Zubkov told deputies that he would dedicate his attentions to advancing Mr Putin's favourite projects: the restoration of Russia's military might and the resurgence of Russia's energy-fuelled economy. "Our strategic goal is to help lift the defence industry complex," he said. "I believe it is proper to centre the government's efforts on the development of Russia's traditionally powerful shipbuilding and aircraft industries." Since Mr Putin came to power in 2000, the Kremlin has poured increasingly large amounts of cash into Russia's rusting military in what appears to be a bid to regain the country's superpower status. That presence is increasingly being felt in the West, with RAF jets again being forced to scramble on Friday after two Russian bombers probed British air space off the north coast of Scotland for the sixth time in two months. On Saturday, however, Mr Putin will revel in a military display of a different sort as he takes the salute from British and Russian troops massed in Red Square to take part in Moscow's first ever military tattoo. The extravaganza, inspired and based on the Edinburgh tattoo, will be replete with historical symbolism. Russia's Presidential regiment band and the Central Band of the Russian Army will be bedecked in imperial uniforms not worn since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. It is another sign of how Mr Putin, often seen as wedded to the country's Soviet past, has cherry-picked from both Tsarist and Communist era traditions in a bid to project Russia's might. Since he came to power in 2000, he has controversially restored the music of the Soviet national anthem and revived the Soviet era red star as the Russian military's emblem. But he has also resurrected the tsarist-era double headed eagle as the country's national crest in an indication of his fascination with Russia's imperial heritage...”
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Russia