Moscow Airports Cancel and Delay Flights After Zelensky Warns of Drone Campaign to 'Close' Russian Skies
Why It MattersSustained drone-related disruption at major Russian hubs signals growing operational risk and potential capacity strain for airlines still operating in or near Russian airspace.
Moscow's Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports experienced widespread flight cancellations and delays on September 2-3 after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on September 1 that Russian airspace "will be de facto closed" due to Ukrainian drone operations. Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) confirmed that "temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft have been introduced."
FlightRadar24 tracking showed that overnight on September 2, 21 flights were canceled and 235 delayed at Sheremetyevo, while 22 flights were canceled and 94 delayed at Vnukovo. By the afternoon of September 3, nearly every scheduled arrival at Sheremetyevo was either delayed or canceled, with a similar situation reported at Vnukovo.
Zelensky offered few specifics about the campaign, saying only that there would be drones in Russia's skies "on a scale that has to be taken into account," and warned every airline using Russian airspace against continuing to do so. Most Western airlines had already stopped flying to Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Turkey's Pegasus Airlines said its flights to Russia scheduled overnight from September 1 to 2 were canceled for "technical and operational reasons," but that flights from September 2 onward were operating as scheduled.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) launched Operation Carpet in the spring of last year, deliberately flying drones over Russian airports to disrupt operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
