Russia Cancels Navy Day Celebrations Amid Ongoing Drone Attacks

Russia scaled back its annual Navy Day celebrations due to heightened security concerns amid Ukrainian drone attacks. Over 100 drones were intercepted by Russian air defenses, impacting naval parades in key cities like St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. President Vladimir Putin toured naval headquarters in St. Petersburg, but the parade was canceled. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attributed the decision to security reasons, and Putin vowed to expand the navy's manpower, vessels, and training.

Russia scaled back its annual Navy Day celebrations due to heightened security concerns amid Ukrainian drone attacks. Over 100 drones were intercepted by Russian air defenses, impacting naval parades in key cities like St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. President Vladimir Putin toured naval headquarters in St. Petersburg, but the parade was canceled. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attributed the decision to security reasons, and Putin vowed to expand the navy's manpower, vessels, and training.

The cancellation of the parades came as a result of ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks. On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defenses downed 99 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight. Later in the day, more drones were shot down near St. Petersburg, with a woman injured by drone fragments in the Lomonosov region [1].

St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport suspended dozens of flights early Sunday due to the drone threat, and the city's historic naval headquarters, where Putin visited, was not spared from the attacks. The July Storm exercise, involving 150 warships from the Baltics to the Pacific, was conducted instead of the customary naval parades [2].

President Putin addressed naval personnel in St. Petersburg, emphasizing the importance of the Russian Navy in defending the country's interests, sovereignty, and security. He announced plans to transform five Marine Corps brigades into divisions, aiming to increase the navy's strike power and combat capabilities [2].

The Ukrainian drone attacks have posed a significant challenge to Russia's naval capabilities. Earlier in the war, Ukraine sank several Russian warships in the Black Sea, crippling Moscow's naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet from Russia-occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. In a June 1 attack codenamed "Spiderweb," Ukraine used drones to hit several Russian airbases, taking the Russian military by surprise [1].

Russia's response to these drone attacks has been swift. The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7 [3]. Despite the challenges posed by the drone attacks, Putin remains committed to strengthening the Russian Navy.

References:
[1] https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-putin-navy-b895fd179433ce1f555795e86891fc32
[2] https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/russia-marks-naval-day-with-july-storm-drills-ukrainian-drone-attacks/
[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/ukrainian-drones-target-st-petersburg-putin-attends-scaled-down-navy-day-2025-07-27/