Latest news with #Leningrad
Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Putin cancels Russian naval parade for ‘security reasons'
Russia cancelled its main Navy Day parade in St Petersburg on Sunday, citing security fears as Ukrainian drone strikes continued to target strategic sites across the country. The cancellation — the first since the celebration was introduced in 2017 — was announced by local authorities last week before quietly disappearing from official websites. But Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, confirmed the decision on Sunday, saying it was linked to 'the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else'. His confirmation came hours after Russian air defences reported intercepting 99 drones overnight across the regions of St Petersburg, Leningrad, Volgograd, Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod. Among the targets were two Signal electronic warfare plants in Stavropol that supply Russia's military communications systems. • Putin launches spy app to keep Russians in 'digital gulag' In Volgograd, falling debris disrupted the railway power supply, delaying trains. Flights at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport were suspended and a woman in the Leningrad region was injured. Two civilians were reportedly killed when a drone struck their car in Rostov. Despite the cancellation, President Putin travelled to St Petersburg and boarded the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, which the Kremlin claimed helped repel a previous drone attack near Sevastopol. He also visited the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt. In a video address to members of the navy, Putin praised their role in the war and vowed to expand Russia's naval power. He said the ongoing July Storm drills, involving 150 warships and 15,000 personnel across four seas, showed Russia's reach. The Russian leader made no mention of the setbacks faced by Russia's Black Sea fleet, which has been forced to withdraw from several key Crimean ports under sustained Ukrainian attack. Smaller Navy Day ceremonies went ahead in cities including Kaliningrad and Vladivostok. • Putin-linked conductor's western comeback cancelled after protests The annual holiday, first introduced in the Soviet era, was revived by Putin as part of efforts to glorify the military and stir patriotism. Last year's parade was scaled back because of security fears but went ahead. Russian forces struck targets across Ukraine overnight. Explosions were reported in the Kharkiv, Dnipro and Donetsk regions, drones and missiles hitting infrastructure and residential areas. On Sunday, President Zelensky announced new sanctions targeting almost 100 individuals and companies involved in supporting Russia's war effort, incorporating the latest European Union sanctions packages into Ukrainian law. They include 45 Russian nationals and 50 firms connected to the military-industrial complex, such as those producing drones and missiles. The EU's 18th package, adopted earlier this month, targets key sectors including energy, banking and the military industries, adding stricter controls on Russian oil exports and sanction evasion tactics.
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Gary Shteyngart: Want to understand Russia? Then read this novel
Gary Shteyngart was born Igor Semyonovich Shteyngart in Leningrad in 1972. His family, he says, was 'typically Soviet' and they lived in a square with a huge statue of Vladimir Lenin. They emigrated to the US when he was seven but not before he had written his first book: a 100-page comic novel. After a degree in politics and several years working for NGOs, Shteyngart took a trip to Prague that inspired his first novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, which was published in 2002. The book, about young Russians living in Manhattan and the fictional Prava, won him awards and acclaim. Other books by Shteyngart include the novels Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story, Lake Success and Our Country Friends as well as the memoir Little Failure. He has also worked on television shows including HBO's Succession and The Regime. His latest book is Vera, or Faith, about a dysfunctional family in America told from the perspective of Vera, a ten-year-old girl who is half-Korean, half-Jewish. Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler. I read the book when I was deep in my fully satirical mode as a twentysomething man. You couldn't stop me from satirising everything in sight. Now I'm middle-aged and full of love. Dogs, children, baristas — I love everyone I encounter. But when my spleen was much more active I craved satire and Barney's Version fit the bill perfectly. It's the story of an old man losing his marbles in Montreal and it is, in some ways, a kind of loud Canadian lament. (Who knew that was possible?) It's also the story of an old man scrutinising his life and trying to figure out where it all went wrong, which, as a 52-year-old I can now begin to understand on a different level. • What we're reading this week — by the Times books team I really love Bombay, so I love Maximum City by my old friend Suketu Mehta. It's an over-the-top take on an over-the-top city. No person I know so embodies a place as does Suketu. When I went on a tour of Bombay with him a decade or so ago we were hanging out with Bollywood stars, drinking sodas designed to elicit a belch and being chased out of housing estates by gangsters. In other words the reality is every bit as nuts as the book makes it out to be. Oh, and it's very, very funny, which is important for me. • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, published in 1859. With the genocide being perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine I became more than weary of my Russian-born cultural self. I felt some Pushkin and Dostoevsky represented the worst of Russian experience, while Chekhov remained a sweetheart. Oblomov, the story of a Russian man who never really gets off his couch, is something else. It's what being a Russian is actually like. The instinct to let the world slide off your back (even as you lie on it) explains so much of why Russia is, was and always will be a nightmare. Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (Atlantic £16.99 ) is out now. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin visits city to mark Navy Day
Ukrainian drones targeted St Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva river and is attended by Mr Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. READ MORE Mr Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic oceans and Baltic and Caspian seas. 'Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet,' Mr Putin said in a video address. The Russian ministry of defence said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7th, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9th. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St Petersburg, said that more than 10 drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 8.40am Irish time on Sunday Mr Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Mr Peskov, said Mr Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for two hours on Sunday. – Reuters
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day
MOSCOW, July 27 (Reuters) - Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. "Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 0840 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day By Gleb Bryanski MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. "Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 0840 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
