Ukrainian drones force overnight closure of all four main Moscow airports

Ukrainian drones forced all four of Moscow's main airports to close overnight, according to Euronews and Militarny. The affected airports included Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo, where operations were suspended for up to seven hours. Euronews reported that more than 160 flights were cancelled during the incident. [1][2]

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 94 drones heading towards the Russian capital were shot down, Euronews reported. The Moscow Times reported that Russia repelled 644 Ukrainian drones overall. Outside of Moscow, Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg was forced to stop operations twice during the same night, while four drones were destroyed over the region according to Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko. [1][4]

According to Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo, cited by Euronews, airports in Moscow were closed for a total of 101 hours during the first 14 days of October. This amount of time is more than double the total recorded closures for the entire month of September. Euronews noted that it could not independently verify the claims made regarding the strikes. [1]

The latest drone strikes follow previous aerial actions directed at the capital region. As FTMQ News reported earlier, a drone attack on the Moscow region earlier in the month killed two people, injured nine others, and set fire to the largest oil facility in the region. [10]