Moscow airports shut temporarily after Ukraine drone attacks
Moscow
A sustained Ukrainian drone attack on Russia caused Moscow's major airports to be temporarily closed and saw at least 140 flights cancelled, officials said.
More than 230 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia since Saturday morning — including 27 over the capital — according to the Russian defence ministry.
According to Russia's aviation watchdog, the four major airports serving the capital were disrupted and more than 130 flights also had to be redirected. All have since resumed normal operations.
Meanwhile, at least three people were killed during Russian air strikes on Ukraine overnight, according to regional officials.
Russia's Association of Tour Operators (Ator) said on Sunday that Moscow airports were closed 10 times in 24 hours due to the strikes.
The Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, was also affected. Russia's defence ministry said it had intercepted 45 drones since Saturday morning, resulting in Kaluga International Airport also being temporarily closed.
Russia's defence ministry said drones were also shot down over regions near the Ukrainian border including Rostov and Bryansk, as well as over the Black Sea. No fatalities were reported.
This is not the first time that Ukrainian drone attacks have caused travel disruption in Russia. In May, at least 60,000 passengers were stranded at airports across the country after Kiev launched more than 500 drones in a 24-hour period, according to Russia's defence ministry.
Regional officials in Ukraine said two people died after Russian air strikes in different parts of Donetsk, while a 78-year-old woman died after residential buildings burned down in Sumy.
Ukraine's air force said it shot down 18 out of 57 Russian drones overnight into Sunday, while a further seven drones were lost after their radars were jammed.
As well as Sumy and Donetsk, other front-line areas of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk were attacked, as was Zaporizhzhia.
The latest attacks come as the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to move towards a peace settlement with Ukraine but that Moscow's priority was to 'achieve our goals'.
'President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy,' he said in a televised interview. It has been nearly three-and-a-half years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
an hour ago
- Qatar Tribune
Russians attempt to encircle Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine
DPA Kiev After unsuccessful direct assaults on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Russian troops have now shifted to attempts at encirclement, local troop spokesman Viktor Trehubov reported on Ukrainian state television on Sunday. Efforts are being made, particularly from the east, to break through Ukrainian positions and encircle Pokrovsk, Trehubov said, adding that the defensive battle in the area near Kostiantynivka is ongoing. A direct assault on Pokrovsk reportedly makes no sense for the Russian military given the high losses, hence the attempt at encirclement. Pokrovsk has been a persistent hotspot on the fronts in eastern Ukraine for months. The city is located in the west of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk at a strategically important transport hub. It is now almost completely destroyed. Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for over three years. Meanwhile, at least three passengers have died in a Russian drone attack on a bus in the eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy. Additionally, a further 20 passengers were injured, according to the regional military administration. The information could not be independently verified. In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, a 58-year-old woman died in a Russian attack, according to official reports. Two days earlier, a resident was killed and another seven were injured in a Russian attack on the city. The respective reports did not specify whether the people were victims of drone or artillery attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday announced the restructuring and further armament of the navy during the conclusion of a major naval exercise. By the end of the year, two marine infantry brigades will be converted into divisions, with three more to follow shortly, Putin said. 'This will significantly increase the fleet's striking power and combat capabilities,' he stated. The five-day exercise, which concluded on Russia's Navy Day on Sunday, involved more than 150 warships and support vessels, 120 aircraft and helicopters, and over 15,000 soldiers, according to official information. The drills took place simultaneously in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Caspian Sea. The aim of the exercise was to defend against a large-scale naval attack, the Russian government said. The Kremlin accuses NATO of endangering Russia's security. The Western military alliance also conducted a naval exercise earlier this year: BALTOPS 2025. According to official figures, around 50 ships and approximately 9,000 soldiers participated in the exercise in June. In a video message, Putin described the navy as the 'pride and achievement of the fatherland.' However, the naval parade planned for Sunday — an annual event Putin started in 2017 — was cancelled for security reasons, unlike the military exercise. In the region surrounding St Petersburg, more than 10 drones were reportedly shot down in the morning, according to official information. Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said a woman in the Lomonosov district was slightly injured by falling drone debris. St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport was closed for several hours in the morning for take-offs and landings. The Russian military reported the downing of 99 drones nationwide. Putin called this year's Navy Day a wonderful holiday, but added, 'It is right that we spend the holiday in a combat and working atmosphere, with everyone in their place, and the fleet demonstrating its combat potential and quality.' The head of the Kremlin followed most of the naval manoeuvres via video transmission from the navy's main headquarters in St Petersburg.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
At least 4 killed in Russian attacks on eastern, southern Ukraine
DPA Kiev At least two civilians died in Russian attacks in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, according to Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak on Telegram on Saturday. A man was killed by artillery fire in the Nikopol district. Lysak said three more people were injured by remote-controlled drones in the Synelnykove district. In the eastern region of Donetsk, another civilian was killed in a drone attack in the city of Kostiantynivka, according to the military administration chief of the industrial city, Serhij Gorbunov. In a post on Facebook, he urged the remaining residents to leave the city and move to safer areas as the front line is only a few kilometres from the city limits. A civilian was killed by a Ukrainian drone in the western Russian border region of Kursk, an official said earlier. The attack took place in the village of Obesta, about five kilometres from the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Hinshtein said on Telegram. A remote-controlled drone struck next to the village club, he said. There was no independent confirmation of this. Ukraine has been fending off Russia's full-scale invasion for more than three years. Kiev has also attacked targets on Russian territory, mainly using drones. Russian forces launched 208 drones and dummy drones, 12 Iskander ballistic missiles and 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight, targeting the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region in particular, the Ukrainian Air Force reported early on Saturday. Ukrainian forces downed 183 drones and 17 missiles and cruise missiles, the report said. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak posted on Telegram that three people had been killed and six injured in Dnipro and its environs. He spoke of a 'terrible night.' President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Sumy and Kharkiv had also come under attack. 'Such strikes certainly cannot be left without response, and Ukrainian long-range drones ensure one,' he posted on X. 'Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airfields must see that Russia's own war is now hitting them back with real consequences. The precision of our drones, the daily nature of Ukraine's responses — are some of the arguments that will surely bring peace closer,' Zelensky posted. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said five people, including three emergency workers, had been injured as they were attending an earlier strike.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Ukraine, Russia report deaths and damage in renewed aerial attacks
DPA Kiev Russian forces launched 208 drones and dummy drones, 12 Iskander ballistic missiles and 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight, targeting the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region in particular, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Saturday. Ukrainian forces downed 183 drones and 17 missiles and cruise missiles, the report said. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak posted on Telegram that three people had been killed and six injured in Dnipro and its environs. He spoke of a "terrible night." President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Sumy and Kharkiv had also come under attack. "Such strikes certainly cannot be left without response, and Ukrainian long-range drones ensure one," he posted on X. "Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airfields must see that Russia's own war is now hitting them back with real consequences. The precision of our drones, the daily nature of Ukraine's responses - are some of the arguments that will surely bring peace closer," Zelensky posted. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said five people, including three emergency workers, had been injured as they were attending an earlier strike. Sumy military Governor Oleh Hryhorov said three people had been injured. Authorities in the Rostov region in southern Russia said that two people had died in Ukrainian attacks. Governor Yury Slyusar posted on Telegram that a car had burnt out and that power had been cut to a row of houses by a falling drone. Videos published on Telegram showed an explosion at an industrial company in Stavropol in southern Russia. According to media reports, the Signal factory was hit. It is one of the main manufacturers of radio electronics for the Russian army and is under EU sanctions. Governor Vladimir Vladimirov posted that a Ukrainian drone attack on industrial sites had been warded off, while he acknowledged a "small fire" that had quickly been doused. The Russian civil aviation authority said that traffic had been disrupted at the Vladikavkaz, Kaluga and Grozny airports. The Russian Defence Ministry reported that 54 Ukrainian drones had been downed overnight over seven Russian regions and the Crimean Peninsula, 12 of them over the Rostov region. The tit-for-tat attacks occur almost nightly, as Ukraine seeks to ward off a full-scale Russia invasion that began in February 2022.
