Moscow, Mar 26 (IANS): Russia manages to maintain strategic parity with NATO due to the combat potential of the Russian Armed Forces, which has more than doubled over the past eight years, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said.

"The share of modern weapons and equipment has been brought up to 68.2 per cent and by the end of the year, it will reach the target of 70 percent," Shoigu said on Wednesday, speaking at the Federation Council upper parliament house, according to a video footage of the address, Xinhua reported.

He added that the share of modern weapons in the strategic nuclear forces has exceeded 87 per cent.

Shoigu said that the military activity of NATO near the Russian borders is increasing every year, its land and sea groupings are growing, its membership is expanding, while the US global missile defence system is being deployed.

The information space today has become another theatre of war, he added.

According to Shoigu, in the last three years, more than 25,000 high-tech computer attacks from abroad have been carried out against the information infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces, with the numbers increasing annually by an average of 12 per cent.

However, the Russian Defence Ministry has created a reliable system for protecting information resources and ensuring high stability of the Armed Forces command and control system, he said.