Ukrainian drones force closure of Moscow’s four airports overnight, canceling dozens of flights
By Sergei Doubine & Russian Euronews
Published on
Ukrainian drones forced Moscow’s four main airports to close overnight, with Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo suspended for up to seven hours and more than 160 flights canceled.
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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 94 drones heading towards the capital had been shot down.
St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport was twice forced to halt operations during the same night. Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said four drones were destroyed over the region.
Euronews was unable to independently verify these claims.
According to Russian investigative media outlet Agentstvo, Moscow’s four airports were closed for a total of 101 hours in the first 14 days of October, compared to 46 hours for the whole of September.
On Tuesday, Ukraine carried out one of its largest drone operations against the Russian capital, deploying nearly 500 drones.
On October 9, according to multiple reports, the presidential plane carrying Vladimir Putin – returning from a summit in Turkmenistan – was unable to land in Moscow due to a drone attack and was diverted to St. Petersburg. Putin’s plane would not have been a direct target.
Russian officials have neither confirmed nor denied these reports.
Ukraine has not officially confirmed any organized campaign to close Russian airports, in what media have dubbed “Operation M&Ms.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky has not yet authorized the military to implement an original, more aggressive plan for such a campaign, according to reports.
In September, Zelensky said that Russian skies were “becoming dangerous” and that “drones will appear in the skies of Russia, and this will have to be taken into account,” urging international airlines to stop flying to Russian airports.
kyiv has targeted Russia’s military, energy and commercial facilities in a bid to neutralize Moscow’s war machine, as its all-out war in Ukraine continues well into its fifth year.
Yet US President Donald Trump reiterated his criticism of Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries in an interview, calling them a “disgrace” after his shock announcement of a deal to buy diesel from the Kremlin.
“There are many targets that can be hit. But when you bomb oil refineries that produce, you know, diesel fuel, and that we and the whole world needs, (Zelenskyy) is doing the world a disservice,” Trump said.
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