For the second year in a row, the annual Russian Naval Fleet Day holiday celebration has been canceled. This naval military showcase usually takes place in St. Petersburg, the traditional birthplace of the modern Russian Navy.
It is also the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who always makes a point of presiding over the ceremony. No official reason has been provided for this year’s cancellation. All that the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on the matter came through unnamed sources who spoke to the St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka.
Kirov-Class Warship from Russia X Screenshot
The reason given by those who interacted with local media is that the event did not take place because no orders were given to organize a parade in the first place: a cancellation almost by default. All a Navy spokesman would tell Fontanka was “it’s not the right time.”
When last year’s naval parade was called off, the Kremlin said it was due to security concerns. That reason was not invoked this year, but there were unspoken indications that there are even more pronounced concerns about a potential air attack due to the fact that in recent months Ukraine has demonstrated that its armed forces are able to hit targets in St. Petersburg with drone strikes at will.
The old Imperial capital came under fire on 24 July, when Ukraine launched another strike on sites linked to the Russian online retailer Wildberries, triggering a by-now familiar sequence of consequences. Namely, the sight of thick, black clouds of smoke climbing into the sky and dozens of commercial flights being grounded.
Another Round of Humiliation for Putin
Given the number of important government institutions headquartered there and its status as Russia’s Second City, St. Petersburg is usually well covered by air defenses. But this did not stop Ukraine from humiliating Putin by pounding oil industry and military targets near the city during the former KGB Lt. Col.’s annual International Economic Forum that took place in June.
But in recent weeks, Ukraine has shown remarkable advancements in its design of long-range strike munitions, heightening the dangers of an attack by Ukraine on the parade well above those of last year. The assessment by several observers experienced in analyzing Russia’s military is that a flotilla of naval vessels on the Neva River, which runs through the city, would be the perfect dream target. One too good to pass up for some of the more recent Ukrainian innovations, like the famous Flamingo FP-5 missile.
Kirov-Class Russian Navy. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Having to abort the celebration again this year should have been embarrassing enough. But what Putin decided as an alternative ceremony has led to all manner of ridicule. Rather than standing in review of a procession of naval vessels, the Russian President greeted an audience of sailors and marines at the Admiralty, with a huge mural of naval vessels as the backdrop instead of real ships.
This poor excuse for a real parade has produced no small amount of ridicule involving Putin online. Among others, the Ukrainian X channel MilitaryNewsUA posted that in Russia “a parade took place on Navy Day, but without the fleet itself. Instead of real ships, there were huge banners with their photos.”
The news outlet Nexta posted the same footage on X, adding: “Putin embarrasses himself on the world stage again! So-Called Navy Day Celebrated with a Painted Submarine on a Wall.”
A Blackout During a Showcase
Putin has used Naval Fleet Day, which is supposed to take place on the last Sunday of every July, as an occasion to put on a dramatic show of Russia’s maritime power. Other than a column of warships sailing down the Neva River, there have also usually been aircraft flyovers.
Even without a set of floating targets for Ukraine’s drone and missile forces to shoot at, the paranoia of the Putin security forces was running in high gear nonetheless. Residents of the city reported that there were – as was the case in Moscow before, during, and after the May Victory Parade – a series of internet blackouts during the scaled-back ceremonies Putin presided over, despite them being entirely indoors.
What is the reality in today’s Russia is that the Navy is in as deplorable a state as the rest of the Russian military – if not more so. Other than using its ships and submarines to launch missile strikes on Ukraine’s cities, there is not much of a role for the fleet to play in the day-to-day conduct of the KGB Lt. Col.’s war on Ukraine.
As Jürgen Nauditt, who is a pro-Ukrainian X user who posts regularly about the war, wrote: “The Russian Federation’s Navy Day parade took place without the fleet—a fact that starkly illustrates the actual state of the Russian navy.”
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
