Ukrainian Drone Barrage Shuts All Four Moscow Airports, Over 160 Flights Cancelled
Why It MattersRepeated multi-hour shutdowns of Moscow's entire airport system show how sustained drone activity can take a major aviation hub offline, disrupting commercial and business flying across the region.
A large overnight barrage of Ukrainian long-range drones forced the closure of all four major commercial airports serving Moscow — Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky — in the early hours of Thursday, suspending air traffic for up to seven hours. Regional officials said more than 160 commercial flights were cancelled, hundreds more were delayed or diverted, and thousands of passengers were stranded. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defenses destroyed 94 Ukrainian drones heading for the capital.
An independent analysis by the Russian outlet Agentstvo found that Moscow's four main airports were closed for a cumulative 101 hours in the first 14 days of October, more than double the 46 hours recorded across all of September. The attack followed a strike two days earlier in which Ukraine launched an estimated 500 long-range drones at targets around Moscow. On October 9, the aircraft carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin, returning from Turkmenistan, abandoned its approach to Moscow during a drone attack and landed in Saint Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said drones would appear over Russia with increasing frequency and urged international airlines to stop operating in Russian airports. Kyiv has not officially confirmed a campaign specifically aimed at Russian civil aviation. Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump called Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries "a disgrace."
