It is almost certain that the Day of the russian Navy parades, originally expected to take place Sunday, July 27, 2025, have been cancelled across russia due to force protection concerns, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
From 2017 to 2024, there was a main naval parade in St. Petersburg on Navy Day. This included a review of warships, with some sailing from elsewhere in russia to attend. Ships and representatives of other nations historically attended.
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The main naval parade was reduced in scale in 2024 — particularly, the traditional event where russian vessels parade along the Neva River to Kronstadt Naval Base was cancelled due to "security concerns." However, this is the first time it has been cancelled since its 2017 inception. Small ceremonies will highly likely take place, and Navy Day remains a russian national holiday.
At the same time, the permeating feeling of threat isn't something entirely new. The russian military has been insisting on keeping up appearances while also covertly deploying countermeasures. For example, in 2023, at least two EW systems were spotted aboard Sovetsk, a Project 22800 Karakurt-class corvette, ahead of the celebrations. Back then, Ukrainian unmanned explosive boats were considered the main danger.
As Defense Express previously reported, since May 2025, russia has rolled out extensive cellular (mobile) internet blackouts across its territory. 654 outages were recorded in June alone, nearly ten times the number recorded in May. These outages impacted coverage for over half the country.
The russian government has formally stated that the blackouts are intended to block Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems reliant on cellular signals, but independent reports suggest the goal is tighter control over online information.
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