Russia called off Navy Day parades scheduled in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Vladivostok on Sunday, citing “security reasons.”
Russia did not disclose specific threats involved however Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said: “It has to do with the general situation. Security reasons are of utmost importance.”
The cancellation of the Navy Day parades comes after the Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defenses shot down 99 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight.
At least 10 drones were intercepted near Saint Petersburg. Local authorities reported that a woman was injured by drone fragments in the Lomonosov region.
The drone attack reportedly disrupted operations at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, causing delays to dozens of flights.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who re-established Navy Day in 2017, nearly four decades after it was canceled during Soviet times, appeared in a video message praising the “bravery” and “heroism” of Russia’s sailors participating in the offensive in Ukraine.
“We are celebrating the holiday in a working atmosphere,” Putin said later Sunday in a video address to Russian forces involved in large-scale naval maneuvers called “July Storm.”
The drills, launched earlier this week in the Baltic and Caspian seas as well as in the Arctic and Pacific oceans, involved more than 150 ships and over 15,000 troops.
