Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUkrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg, disrupting Navy Day celebrations. The attack led to airport closures and heightened security concerns.
By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns.
St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin.
Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July.
Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas.
"Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 0840 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled.
St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday.
Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday.
(Additional reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously using software-controlled flight plans.
Air defense refers to the measures taken to protect against aerial threats, including missiles and aircraft, typically involving radar and anti-aircraft systems.
A naval parade is a ceremonial display of naval ships and personnel, often conducted to showcase military capabilities and celebrate naval history.
Navy Day is a celebration that honors the naval forces of a country, recognizing their contributions to national defense and maritime security.
Drone attacks can significantly disrupt security operations, leading to heightened alert levels, changes in defense strategies, and potential civilian casualties.
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