Russia drops plans for Navy Parade to avoid last-minute cancellation
After a spring marked by repeated Ukrainian drone strikes on military facilities and warships in St Petersburg, the Russian Ministry of Defence appears to be abandoning plans for any major public events to mark this year's Navy Day.
“You understand, there’s no time for that,” a naval commander told the St Petersburg-based newspaper Fontanka, which is generally well informed on military affairs.
As of 15 June, no presidential decree authorising the Main Navy Parade had been issued, and no naval units were making preparations to deploy to St Petersburg. Sources in the Ministry of Defence and the Navy’s Main Command told Fontanka they had yet to receive any instructions, despite preparations normally being well under way by this stage.
The annual naval parade, featuring warships on the Neva River in St Petersburg and in the waters off Kronstadt, is Vladimir Putin’s flagship celebration of the branch of the armed forces closest to his heart: the Navy.
The parade has been held almost every year since 2017, when Putin signed a decree restoring the pre-1980 Navy Day as an official holiday. Until recently, the event grew into one of the Kremlin’s most important military showcases.
A scaled-down version of the parade took place in 2024, limited to the Neva River in central St Petersburg. The Kronstadt segment was cancelled. Last year, the parade was cancelled altogether.
Security concerns have mounted following a series of successful Ukrainian drone strikes against military targets in the St Petersburg region. On 3 June, a drone reportedly struck and heavily damaged the Russian Navy corvette Boikiy at Kronstadt Naval Base. Arms depots and oil storage facilities have also been targeted. In late March, a drone hit the FSB’s new Arctic patrol vessel Purga, which was under construction at the Vyborg shipyard.
Between 2017 and 2023, one or two nuclear-powered submarines from the Northern Fleet routinely sailed south to participate in the Navy Day celebrations in St Petersburg. No such deployment is expected this year.
Although no parade is expected in St Petersburg, the Northern Fleet is likely to hold a local Navy Day event in Kola Bay near Severomorsk, north of Murmansk.
