Ukraine Drone Strikes Temporarily Halt Flights in Moscow, St. Pete

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

Photo: Reuters

Overnight, Ukraine sent drones into Russia, causing all airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg to stop flights for a while. Russian officials said that no buildings or people were hurt during these attacks.

The Russian defense ministry said that their air defense teams shot down 102 Ukrainian drones during the night. Almost half of these drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region, which is close to Ukraine. Three drones were taken down near Moscow, and two more were stopped near St. Petersburg.

Because of the drone attacks, Russia’s civil aviation authority, called Rosaviatsia, decided to temporarily close all four major airports in Moscow. St. Petersburg’s main airport, Pulkovo, was also closed. Airports in nine other cities across Russia were shut down for safety reasons.

By Tuesday morning, flights in Moscow and some other cities started again. However, St. Petersburg’s airport was still closed for a little longer. Regional leaders posted updates on Telegram, a popular messaging app in Russia, and said there was no damage from the drones.

In summary, Ukraine’s drone attacks caused a lot of disruption to air travel in Russia’s biggest cities, but no one was hurt and nothing was damaged. Flights were mostly back to normal by the next morning.