Ukraines largest-ever drone attack against Russia activated hours of travel chaos late Tuesday and early Wednesday, with duplicated airport closures in Moscow and its surrounding regions.Russias Defense Ministry stated it damaged 524 Ukrainian drones throughout the country overnight, making it the biggest wave of drone attacks because President Vladimir Putin purchased the full-scale intrusion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The military likewise reported destroying numerous rockets.Amid the air assault, civil aviation authorities momentarily grounded flights at Moscows Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports, in addition to in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Yaroslavl, Kazan and others, caution of possible cancellations.The constraints were imposed to ensure the safety of civil airplane flights, said Artyom Korenyako, a spokesperson for Russias Federal Air Transport Agency.Major airlines, consisting of Aeroflot, Pobeda and S7, informed travelers to anticipate interruptions as theycanceled hundreds of flights for Tuesday and Wednesday.
S7 assured toissue a full refund for guests with canceled flights or exchange tickets for other flights if there are readily available seats.In Siberia, transport authorities said more than 4,000 guests were stranded at airports in 10 cities.
A number of the disturbances were brought on by flights getting here late due to air constraints at Moscow airports.Russias Association of Tour Operators later on stated at least 60,000 guests were impacted by flight hold-ups and cancellations as of Wednesday afternoon.Due to the peculiarities of airline companies schedule preparation, these hold-ups and cancellations will not be the end of it: planes that did not get to their destination on time will be late for other flights too, the organization was estimated as saying by Kommersant.The closures came as Chinese President Xi Jinping was anticipated to arrive in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, as well as to participate in the May 9 Victory Day parade on Red Square.
According to the exiled news outlet Agentstvo, foreign officials typically fly into Vnukovo airport during official visits to Russia.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated air defense forces destroyed eight drones on Tuesday evening and 9 early Wednesday early morning, marking the 3rd consecutive day of attacks targeting the capital.According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraines Center for Countering Disinformation, the overnight attacks targeted the Kubinka airbase in the Moscow area, as well as the Shaykovka airfield in the Kaluga region.Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 2 individuals were killed in Russian drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital.