Vladimir Putin canceled Russia's Navy Day parade due to fears of Ukrainian strikes and predicted the eventual collapse of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin canceled Russia's Navy Day parade, which was scheduled to feature 200 warships sailing along the Neva River in St. Petersburg. The decision was made to avoid potential Ukrainian strikes. Instead of the parade, the president held a televised meeting with Navy personnel where he expressed frustration and shared a revenge fantasy involving Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. During the meeting, Vladimir Putin expressed a somewhat defeated tone, admitting that the return of Ukraine's western regions to neighboring countries would not happen immediately. He predicted that Ukraine would ultimately fall apart, claiming Russia was the only guarantor of Ukraine's territorial integrity. He further stated that the previous western regions were a gift from Stalin, and while they would eventually return to Hungary, Romania, and Poland, the process could take up to fifteen years.