Russia once again canceled its annual naval flotilla on Sunday, holding a scaled-down event centered on a speech by President Vladimir Putin.

The final Sunday of July has historically been “Navy Day” in Russia, honoring the history and legacy of the Russian Navy. As part of that tradition, there is typically an annual naval flotilla in St. Petersburg, intended to show off Russia’s naval strength.

The holiday itself was created during the Soviet era, in 1939—less than two years before Nazi Germany invaded Russia, plunging the Russian Navy into war. Unlike the holiday, the parade does not have deep roots; it was enacted by the government of Vladimir Putin in 2017 for the purpose of stoking Russian patriotism. Even so, from then until 2024, the authorities in the Kremlin held the flotilla, alongside speeches by notable dignitaries and other events on the sidelines.

In 2025, amid the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin canceled the flotilla—the centerpiece of the celebrations—and did so again this weekend, for the second year in a row. Other celebrations went on as planned, and Putin still took the time to address sailors at the Admiralty headquarters in Russia’s second-largest city. However, the main parade was suspended over security concerns, specifically that Ukraine could launch a drone strike and target such a major event.

In early June, long-range unmanned aerial systems struck energy and military targets in the city, coinciding with the opening and closing days of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event that was meant to promote foreign investment in Russia. Through the high-profile attacks, Kyiv’s intended message seems to have been that investing in Russia entailed greater risk than the Kremlin was willing to acknowledge.

Similar fears that Kyiv might launch an attack led to the 2025 warship parade also being scuttled.

The last time the naval review was held was in 2024. Even then, it was a scaled-down affair due to security concerns, featuring just 20 surface ships, four sailing craft and a submarine. Reports circulated after the event that Washington had urged Kyiv not to conduct an attack, warning that such actions could escalate the conflict.

Russia Has Canceled Dozens of Major Events Since 2022

As Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is now in its fifth year and shows no signs of resolution, and as Ukraine’s missile and drone attacks inside Russia have grown more frequent and more audacious, Moscow has scaled back or canceled a series of major political and military events, largely to avoid giving Kyiv a clear target to shoot at.

One year ago, in July 2025, the Kremlin opted not to hold the Army 2025 International Military-Technical Forum, Russia’s premier arms expo. The previous year, it had scaled the 2024 edition back to just three industry days. Moscow has also declined to hold its once-famed International Army Games since 2022, citing a shortage of tanks and other equipment due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Even Russia’s annual Victory Day parade, commemorating its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9, 1945, was once again reduced in size this year. Unlike past events, no cadets from Russia’s military schools and youth military institutions marched in the parade, and the display of hardware was even more lackluster than that of 2023 and 2024, when a sole T-34 from the “Great Patriotic War” was meant to showcase Russia’s armor capabilities. (The parade in 2025, meant to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, was slightly more robust, and included marching soldiers; Ukraine had agreed not to attack the parade in advance, probably bolstering the Kremlin’s confidence. Another contributing factor in Ukraine’s decision to keep away may have been the presence of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, raising the possibility of collateral damage.)

Before Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Victory Day parade was a spectacle that included thousands of soldiers marching through Red Square accompanied by hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, and missile launchers. It was allegedly that public display of military might that inspired President Donald Trump to hold a similar parade to honor the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Army on June 14, 2025—a date that coincided with his birthday. (The comparison between Russian soldiers marching with great precision in Moscow and American soldiers strolling down Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, allegedly irked Trump, although there is no clear correlation between an army’s marching ability and its lethality on the battlefield.)

Ukraine Has Many Good Reasons to Bomb St. Petersburg

The Navy Day flotilla could have been just a target of opportunity for Kyiv. Yet St. Petersburg is already a high-value target for Ukraine, simply because it is relatively close to the Ukrainian border and hosts a large concentration of troops and equipment. Moreover, the city is useful for propaganda purposes; it is Putin’s hometown, and if Putin is unable to defend it, as he was unable during the SPIEF, it reflects poorly on his leadership.

Indeed, St. Petersburg has regularly come under Ukrainian drone attack. Kyiv last launched a strike on the city on July 24, hitting two Russian Wildberries logistics hubs and sorting centers. The attacks on the Wildberries warehouses, generally regarded as the Russian version of Amazon, filled the skies on the outskirts of the city with thick smoke and grounded flights at the nearby Pulkovo Airport.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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