Russia Cancels Navy Day Parade Due To Threat From Ukrainian Drones

A Navy Day parade has been organised every year in Russia since 2017 to honour President Vladimir Putin and other senior leaders; however, this time, the event was cancelled at the last minute.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, cited security reasons and did not provide more details, though the U.K Ministry of Defence said that the parade and large commemorative events across Russia were cancelled due to protection concerns.

The UK MOD said that small ceremonies would take place, and Navy Day is a national holiday in Russia.

It is among the largest and most publicised military events, and Putin takes part from a shoreside reviewing stand or a VIP launch for security reasons.

The event was cancelled after reports of a Ukrainian drone operation over parts of western Russia.

Ukraine can now launch long-range drones at targets such as factories, airfields, refiners, oil and gas infrastructure, rail lines, etc, inside Russian territory.

Around St. Petersburg, a high number of air defence intercepts of Ukrainian drones led to the regional airport cancelling flights for many hours on Saturday. Across Russia, 100 drones were shot down the same night, per the Russian Defence Ministry.

Source: Maritime Shipping News