Moscow: President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet and paratrooper units to go on full alert as part of snap military exercises in the Arctic, state-run RIA news agency quoted the defence minister as saying on Monday.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is overseeing an expensive modernisation of the armed forces, said Russia faced new threats to its security which obliged it to boost its military strength and capabilities.

President Vladimir Putin attends Navy Day celebrations last year in Severomorsk, headquarters of Russia's Northern Fleet. Credit:AFP

"New challenges and threats to military security require the armed forces to further boost their military capabilities. Special attention must be paid to strategic formations in the North," RIA quoted Shoigu as saying.