Russia Cancels Navy Parade, Cites ‘Security’ As It Downs Nearly 300 Ukrainian Drones

Last Updated:July 27, 2025, 16:06 IST

Russia's Defense Ministry reported downing 291 Ukrainian drones and striking drone production sites. The Navy Day parade was canceled for security reasons; Putin was absent.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers work at the site of an aerial attack in Kharkiv on July 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (File Pic/AFP)

Russian Air Defence units downed 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

“Air defence systems downed two guided aircraft bombs, three projectiles of Czech-made Vampire multiple rocket launch systems and 291 fixed-wing drones," the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

It added that Russian warplanes and drones struck drone production facilities and control centres within Ukraine.

Earlier, Russia said that a major annual navy parade had been cancelled for “security reasons", without specifying the threat or concern.

“It has to do with the general situation. Security reasons are of utmost importance," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.

The parade was set to be the main event of Russia’s Navy Day celebrations, held annually on the last Sunday of July to pay tribute to the nation’s sailors.

However, local authorities in the coastal city of Saint Petersburg, where the warships and submarines were scheduled to pass, announced on Friday that the parade had been cancelled without providing a reason.

Vladimir Putin, who revived Navy Day in 2017 after a nearly four-decade hiatus since Soviet times, was notably absent from the celebrations this year, marking the first time he didn’t attend in person.

Instead, he appeared in a video message hailing the “bravery" and “heroism" of Russia’s sailors participating in the offensive in Ukraine.

Russia, which launched its military operation on Ukraine in February 2022 with daily bombardments of its neighbour, has faced retaliatory Ukrainian drone strikes on its territory in recent months.

On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry said that 100 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight.

The governor of the northwestern Leningrad region, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said on Telegram that at least 10 of them were intercepted not far from Saint Petersburg, and a woman was wounded.

That drone assault also disrupted operations at Saint Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, delaying dozens of flights, the facility’s authorities said.

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News world Russia Cancels Navy Parade, Cites ‘Security’ As It Downs Nearly 300 Ukrainian Drones