Ukraine’s largest-ever drone attack against Russia triggered hours of travel chaos late Tuesday and early Wednesday, with repeated airport closures in Moscow and its surrounding regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 524 Ukrainian drones across the country overnight, making it the largest wave of drone attacks since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The military also reported destroying several rockets.
Amid the air assault, civil aviation authorities temporarily grounded flights at Moscow’s Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports, as well as in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Yaroslavl, Kazan and others, warning of possible cancellations.
“The restrictions were imposed to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights,” said Artyom Korenyako, a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.
Major airlines, including Aeroflot, Pobeda and S7, told passengers to expect disruptions as they canceled hundreds of flights for Tuesday and Wednesday. S7 promised to issue a full refund for passengers with canceled flights or exchange tickets for other flights if there are available seats.
In Siberia, transportation authorities said more than 4,000 passengers were stranded at airports in 10 cities. Many of the disruptions were caused by flights arriving late due to air restrictions at Moscow airports.
Russia’s Association of Tour Operators later said at least 60,000 passengers were impacted by flight delays and cancellations as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Due to the peculiarities of airlines’ schedule planning, these delays and cancellations will not be the end of it: planes that did not arrive at their destination on time will be late for other flights as well,” the organization was quoted as saying by Kommersant.
The closures came as Chinese President Xi Jinping was expected to arrive in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, as well as to attend the May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square. According to the exiled news outlet Agentstvo, foreign officials often fly into Vnukovo airport during official visits to Russia.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense forces destroyed eight drones on Tuesday evening and nine early Wednesday morning, marking the third consecutive day of attacks targeting the capital.
According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, the overnight attacks targeted the Kubinka airbase in the Moscow region, as well as the Shaykovka airfield in the Kaluga region.
Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were killed in Russian drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital.
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