Moscow Shuts Four Major Airports Amid Ukrainian Drone Barrage

News Desk

MOSCOW: Russian authorities temporarily shut down all four major commercial airports serving the capital overnight following an intense barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes, severely disrupting civilian air travel and forcing the cancellation or diversion of more than 160 flights across the metropolitan region.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that Russian aerospace defense units intercepted and destroyed multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) maneuvering toward the capital, with several drones brought down over outlying administrative districts.

In response to the active aerial threat, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) enacted emergency protocols, halting all departures and arrivals across Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports.

Dozens of inbound international and domestic flights were placed in extended holding patterns or diverted to alternate regional hubs, including St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan.

The widespread airspace shutdown highlights Kyiv’s expanding long-range drone strategy, which increasingly targets critical Russian infrastructure, logistics hubs, and military supply chains deep within Russian territory.

For Russia’s civil aviation sector, already strained by comprehensive Western sanctions and parts shortages, the recurrent closure of metropolitan air corridors compounds operational costs, disrupts supply chains, and amplifies domestic security concerns amid the protracted war.

Aviation regulators confirmed that normal flight schedules were progressively being restored under heightened surveillance protocols once military sweeps cleared surrounding airspace.

Meanwhile, ground handling teams and domestic carriers are working through an extensive passenger backlog across Moscow’s terminals, as defense officials conduct forensic analyses on the recovered drone wreckage to determine their launch origins and guidance systems.