Russian warships attend a rehearsal for the Russian Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, 21 July 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / ANATOLY MALTSEV
None of the Russian warships reported damaged or destroyed by Ukrainian forces over the past year took part in St. Petersburg’s Navy Day parade on Sunday, BBC News Russian reported, the closest to confirmation there is that the warships have indeed been put beyond use.
Indeed, only two boats from Russia’s beleaguered Black Sea Fleet — the corvette Merkury and the frigate Admiral Grigorovich — were shown in Russian state media’s coverage of the event on St. Petersburg’s Neva River, BBC News Russian said, with the Black Sea Fleet itself only being mentioned by commentators twice.
A voiceover during Russia’s coverage of the event said that ships from the country’s Black Sea Fleet were “on combat duty protecting Russia’s southern borders and carrying out tasks as part of the special military operation”, the official euphemism for the war in Ukraine used in Russia.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine has attacked over 20 Russian warships, destroying at least seven, including its flagship guided missile cruiser the Moskva, in April 2022.
By late 2023, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet was coming under such frequent attack that the bulk of its vessels were relocated from annexed Crimea, where the fleet had been based for over 240 years, to the port city of Novorossiysk in southern Russia.
According to the Kremlin, a total of 25 vessels took part at this year’s Navy Day parade including representatives of “friendly” foreign navies including those of China, Algeria and India.
The 2021 parade, the last before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, saw over 50 ships and submarines on display, just three of which were not from Russia, BBC Russian said.
Speaking at the parade, Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could resume production of medium-range nuclear weapons and station them in countries within striking distance of the West should the US go ahead with plans to deploy long-range missiles in Germany from 2026.
