Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
“As you can imagine, it’s not the right time,” a Navy spokesperson said.
For years, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has used military parades to show off Russia’s military prowess, boost his image and rally the nation behind the military.
But as the war in Ukraine drags on and enters its fifth year, with Russian troops struggling on the battlefield, Putin’s love of parades has suffered some significant blows.
The Victory Day Parade in Moscow on May 9 was significantly scaled back, with no air show and no armored vehicles. Observers described it as a huge blow to Putin’s strongman image as a leader who portrays himself as the protector of the Russian people.
And now an annual Russian navy parade has also been canceled — in Putin’s birth city, no less.
Silence in St. Petersburg
Local news outlet Fontanka reported on Monday that the annual Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, held in the Summer, seems to be hanging by a thread.
By mid-June, no official presidential decree had been issued to greenlight the summer showcase. Fleets are skipping their journeys to the Baltic coast entirely. It is a total standstill.
Sources inside the military confirmed that the usual grand preparations are completely dead. Normally, complex logistics and drill rehearsals would be well underway by now. But things remain completely quiet.
“As you can imagine, it’s not the right time,” a Navy spokesperson told Fontanka when asked about the lack of activity.
Security fears linger
If the cancellation is formally confirmed, it will mark the third year in a row that the prestigious naval display has been disrupted or completely scrapped. The continuous cancellations reveal the intense pressure facing the nation’s military establishment.
Last year, officials called off the St. Petersburg gathering entirely over serious security concerns, The Moscow Times reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters at the time that the “general atmosphere” prompted to decision.
Similar threats disrupted the event the year before. Security forces warned of a likely attack on participating naval vessels, forcing organizers to cut the Kronstadt portion of the parade short.
Ever since its revival in 2017, the annual parade has taken place on the final Sunday of July. It traditionally serves as a showcase for the Baltic Fleet, but ongoing regional instability has effectively put the event on ice.
