Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled the annual Navy Day main parade in St. Petersburg on July 26, 2026, opting instead to deliver an address to naval personnel at the Admiralty amid ongoing Ukrainian drone strike threats.
The cancellation marks the second consecutive year that Moscow has called off the elaborate naval display, which traditionally featured around 200 warships along the Neva River.
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Russian Defense Ministry sources reported that military officials received no orders to organize the main fleet review, with a Navy spokesperson noting that it was not the right time.
During a televised meeting with military commanders, Putin asserted that Western regions of Ukraine would eventually separate from the country, making historical claims about the territory while asserting that Russia was the sole guarantor of Ukraine's territorial integrity.
"I'm certain, by the way, that sooner or later Ukraine will lose these western lands.
And what used to belong to Poland, Hungary, Romania will sooner or later – maybe not tomorrow, not the day after, in a year or two, 10 years, or 15 – but everything will historically fall back into place," said Putin.
The Russian leader also addressed internal Ukrainian politics and claimed that internal conflict was causing division within the country's leadership.
"There was only one guarantor of Ukraine's territorial integrity, and that was Russia.
But they deemed it necessary, possible and beneficial for themselves to declare Russia their enemy, and Russians not a titular nation in Ukraine, which is complete nonsense and rubbish," said Putin.
