Ukrainian drone attack triggers shut down of Moscow airports, drone debris reported on tarmac
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Civilian flights at all four of Moscow's main airports were suspended on the afternoon of Oct. 23 amid a Ukrainian drone raid on the Russian capital, local authorities reported.
Restrictions on arriving and departing flights at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports were announced by Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya at 2:05 p.m. local time.
At Sheremetyevo, Moscow's largest airport, an air alert was sounded, and waiting passengers were advised to take shelter.
Photos later emerged on social media that allegedly showed debris from a downed drone on the tarmac at Sheremetyevo.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the photos.
Open-source flight tracker FlightRadar24 reported 85 cancelled flights and a further 229 delayed at Sheremetyevo over the day.
According to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, 17 drones were shot down while heading toward the city on the afternoon of Oct. 23.
Ukraine had not commented on the reported attack as of the time of publication.
The all-clear was later sounded at Sheremetyevo Airport, Russian state news agency TASS reported at 5 p.m. local time.
As Ukrainian long-range drones have reached deeper into Russian territory, temporary airport closures across Russia have become increasingly common during Moscow's full-scale war against Ukraine.
On Sept. 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned airlines, insurers, and foreign governments that Russian airspace "will be de facto closed" because of Ukrainian drones. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by accusing Kyiv of "state terrorism," despite Russia's six days of attacks on Kyiv.
Ukraine does not threaten civil aviation, but carriers flying to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major hubs must factor in the risk posed by drones in Russian airspace, Zelensky said in an address posted to Telegram.
"Today we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports — Russian skies are becoming completely dangerous," he said.
"Although the Russian authorities do not report this as it should, the Russian sky will de facto be closed," he added.
