Media: warships from Russian Fleet which left Saint Petersburg because of US destroyer did not return to port, naval parade will not take place
The ships of the Baltic Fleet which entered the Neva River on May 3 and left it three days later never returned, Fontanka news outlet reports. There will be no naval parade. The Victory parade in Saint Petersburg will involve only a show of equipment, aviation and personnel at the Palace Square.
The dispatcher of the Port Saint Petersburg announced that the military command has not submitted a request for passage on the night of May 9. “No participation of ships in the parade on the Neva is planned, the fleet forces are carrying out assigned tasks,” a source in the Baltic Fleet headquarters told Fontanka. According to him, celebratory flags will be raised on the ships based in Kronstadt, but no special parade actions will take place on the water.
According to Fontanka, the Saint Petersburg authorities spent nearly 4 million rubles on preparation for the naval part of the parade. The money was used to install mooring buoys for ships in the Neva and to pay for overtime work by the port services for the night arrangement of ships in the Neva on May 3.
Earlier the press service of the Western Military District announced that 13 ships and auxiliary vessels were supposed to take part in the Victory parade, including the large landing ship Minsk, landing crafts Denis Davydov and Lieutenant Rimsky Korsakov, small missile ships Liven, Serpukhov and the large missile boat Morshansk.
On the morning of May 8, the Latvian National Armed Forces detected the Liven, Serpukhov and Morshansk not far from their territorial waters. The official Twitter account of the Latvian military also stated that the Russian reconnaissance vessel Syzran was spotted in the exclusive economic zone, 13 miles from the territorial waters of the Baltic states.
Previously, on May 7, Fontanka reported that the ships, which were supposed to take part in the naval parade, had left for the Baltic Sea, since the American destroyer USS Carney, which carries Tomahawk cruise missiles on board, had entered the Gdansk Bay. An unnamed officer of the Baltic Fleet told Fontanka that dispersing ships at sea is a usual tactic of the Navy in the event of a sudden missile strike threat.
Later, first rank Captain Michael Nenashev, director of fleet support movement, said that the Baltic fleet, air force and ground forces have sufficient means to “neutralize the threat” posed by a ship of any “potential enemy”. He called the report about the cancellation of the naval parade “fake local reporting”.
RIA Novosti reported, citing an informed source, that the naval parade will still take place, although the number of ships will be reduced.