Yuri Kobzar22:01, 09/07/23

2 minutes.69

In January, St. Petersburg celebrates the 80th anniversary of a key event in the city’s history.

In St. Petersburg, a military parade on Palace Square, which was planned to mark the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, was canceled. This was announced by the Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov .

The parade was planned to be held on January 27, 2024, but the Russian Ministry of Defense insisted on its cancellation, Beglov claims. Instead of a parade, an exhibition of retro military equipment will take place on the main square of St. Petersburg. 

Beglov did not specify why the Russian Ministry of Defense suddenly changed its mind about organizing military parades so beloved by Russians.

Cancellations of parades in Russia

This year, a whole wave of cancellations of military parades swept across Russia , which in previous years were held on May 9 in all more or less significant cities of the country. Security problems amid the war with Ukraine were directly cited as the reason for the cancellation of the celebrations.

In St. Petersburg, the parade on May 9 was held, however, without the aviation component. But at that time this region of the Russian Federation was “prosperous” in terms of military security. But at the end of August, a large-scale drone raid destroyed several military aircraft in Pskov. It is less than 300 km from St. Petersburg, which by Russian standards is “very close.”

It should also be noted that this year Russia canceled the large-scale military exercises Zapad-2023, which were held every two years together with Belarus. This may be caused by an acute shortage of military equipment and soldiers to carry out such events.

(C)UNIAN 2023