In Moscow, a major festival was canceled for the first time amid massive drone attacks
Moscow has canceled the 18th International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower,” which was scheduled to take place on Red Square from August 21 to 30.
The reason given was “reasons beyond the organizers’ control.” The festival has been postponed until 2027, and the exact dates will be announced at a later time.
“Spasskaya Tower” is a large-scale international military music festival that traditionally takes place on Red Square in Moscow.
It features folk ensembles, honor guard units, and military bands from Russia and other countries. Among the Russian participants are ensembles from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian National Guard, the FSB, the FST, and other law enforcement agencies.
The festival was first held in 2007, and until 2009 it was called “Kremlin Dawn.” Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, military bands from European countries, Canada, and Australia participated in the event.
The festival typically drew thousands of spectators. In its entire history, it has been canceled only once—in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s cancellation of the “Spasskaya Tower” festival came amid an increase in drone attacks on Moscow and the Moscow Region.
Last night, the Russian capital and the Moscow region endured one of the largest drone attacks since the war began. According to Russian authorities, more than 600 drones were launched toward Moscow.
At the same time, the festival organizers did not cite the drone attacks as the reason for canceling the event, limiting themselves to a statement about “reasons beyond the organizers’ control.”
The cancellation of “Spasskaya Tower” marks yet another instance of restrictions on large public events in Moscow.
In early June, for the first time in 23 years, the Kremlin canceled the Russia Day gala concert, which was to take place on Red Square.
In addition, the Victory Day parade on May 9 was held in a scaled-down format—for the first time in nearly 20 years without heavy military equipment.
Thus, the cancellation of the “Spasskaya Tower” event was yet another large-scale event that Moscow decided to postpone or scale back due to the security situation in the region.
The organizers announced this on their official Telegram channel.
As a reminder, on the night of August 18, Moscow and the Moscow Region came under a massive drone attack. Russian authorities reported hundreds of drones, some of which were allegedly shot down by air defense systems, and operations at the capital’s airports were restricted due to the threat of attack.
Video: The refinery caught fire after the attack in Orsk.
Earlier, the General Staff confirmed a strike on the TANECO oil refinery in Tatarstan.
