ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 20 -- The Russian Navy on Thursday confirmed the start of building of the diesel-electric naval submarine Krasnodar with a formal ceremony at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The vessel, the fourth in a series of six submarines being built under the auspices of the Russian Navy's Project 636, is destined for the Novorossiyskaya Naval Base on the Black Sea.

The third-generation submarine, with a crew capacity of 52, will be able to travel at speeds of up to 20 knots and at depths of up to 300 meters, said the navy.

Cost of building the new submarine is not made known.

The first vessel in the Project 636 series, Novorossiysk, was launched in November, while the second and the third vessels, Rostov-na-Donu and Stary Oskol, are due to be launched over the coming months. Along with its Project 636 brothers, Krasnodar offers improved stealth and target detection capabilities compared to its predecessors.