All airports in Moscow were closed after Ukrainian drone attacks, and over 200 flights were canceled or delayed

All four of Moscow’s main airports were temporarily closed on the evening of October 15 and during the following night after drone attacks attributed to Ukraine. Restrictions imposed by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency disrupted air traffic, and by morning more than 200 flights had been canceled or delayed.

Domodedovo Airport was closed for more than seven hours, Zhukovsky for nearly six and a half hours, and Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo for approximately five and a half hours. According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, air defenses shot down 94 drones during the attack.

Aeroflot canceled and rescheduled flights and diverted some aircraft to alternate airports, including Nizhny Novgorod. Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg received 25 flights bound for Moscow, but it too operated with interruptions, with dozens of flights canceled or postponed.

This was the third major disruption to air traffic in Moscow in a single week, following attacks on the nights of October 9 and 14. Approximately 785 and 550 flights, respectively, were affected then. Sources cited by The Atlantic claim that the Ukrainian “M&Ms” operation is expected to intensify through the use of artificial intelligence-guided drones.