Russia abruptly calls off key military event Army-2025 — Fear of Ukrainian UAVs suspected
Photo: Patriot Park in Kubinka (Russian media)
Russia has canceled what was arguably its most prestigious military forum, Army-2025. Since 2015, it had been held in Moscow's Patriot Park, but in 2024, the forum was drastically scaled down, and this year, it was decided to cancel it altogether, according to the Militarnyi Ukrainian media outlet and the Izvestiya Russian propaganda outlet.
The Russian newspaper does not reveal why the Russian Ministry of Defense suddenly abandoned its key military-technical forum. Army-2025 was supposed to take place in Kubinka near Moscow from August 11 to 14.
The Ukrainian media outlet suggests that the reason might be the fear of Ukrainian strike drones. Against the backdrop of recent strikes by Ukrainian UAVs, security measures in Russia have significantly increased, particularly during events involving top officials, when mobile internet is often shut down.
However, this is the first time such a very important event for Russian propaganda has simply been canceled. This may be related to the fact that in May 2025, Ukrainian drones attacked Kubinka. One of the UAVs struck Patriot Park.
Earlier, the Financial Times wrote that during talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump allegedly urged Ukraine to intensify strikes on Russian territory and inquired whether Kyiv could strike Moscow.
However, later the White House stated that Trump did not urge Zelenskyy to increase strikes deep into Russia, and that his words were taken out of context. It was also said that Moscow was not mentioned. Trump himself later confirmed this.
