Free Republic

Russia's navy has been forced to cancel its annual flagship event in St Petersburg, in a humiliating blow for Vladimir Putin. Navy Day is a major national holiday and is held on the last Sunday of July, celebrated by the public and military alike. The event is used by the Kremlin to show off its latests ships and technology, as it attempts to project its naval power to the watching world. As the maritime capital of Russia, St Petersburg holds a Main Naval Parade along the River Neva, which is normally attended by the Russian president. Usually ships from the...

Today, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the commander (Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk) and chief of staff (Rear Admiral Sergei Popov) of the Baltic Fleet were both fired for cause, as were several other unnamed senior officials at the fleet. This was the largest mass replacement of senior naval officials in the Russian Navy since the Soviet period.

Russia on Thursday said it had no plans to boost the arsenal of its Baltic Fleet in response to Poland's announcement that the United States will deploy Patriot-type missiles close to Russian borders. "No changes are planned in the combat components of the Baltic Fleet in connection with the deployment of US Patriot missiles close to the border with Russia," the defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies. Earlier, the RIA Novosti news agency had quoted a high-ranking official in the Baltic Fleet as saying Russia would be boosting the weaponry of the fleet's ships, submarines and...