Ukrainian Drone Strikes Cause Chaos for Travelers at Russias Major Airports

Thousands of airline travelers at airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg encountered severe travel disruptions on Monday, as numerous flights faced delays and cancellations due to Ukrainian drone attacks.

According to Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, by Monday morning, 104 outbound flights at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg had been delayed for over two hours, with an additional eight flights canceled.

At Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, 40 flights experienced delays, though no cancellations were reported by Rosaviatsia. However, the airport’s website indicated that several flights had indeed been canceled.

The agency maintained that “all airports in the country are functioning normally,” yet the schedules displayed on the websites for airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg revealed considerable delays and cancellations persisting into Monday evening.

From Saturday to Monday morning, airlines had to cancel 485 flights and delay an additional 1,900, affecting more than 240,000 passengers.

These travel interruptions coincided with reports from Russia’s Defense Ministry that over the weekend, they shot down more than 200 Ukrainian drones. On Monday, the ministry announced that 91 drones had been intercepted overnight, including eight in the Moscow region and three in the Leningrad region.

Videos and images shared on social media depicted overcrowded terminals in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where some passengers were seen sleeping on the floor while they awaited updates on their flights.

Industry experts and airline sources told the business newspaper Kommersant that these disruptions are estimated to have cost airlines approximately 20 billion rubles ($250 million).

Similar situations occurred at Russian airports last summer when near-constant drone attacks in Moscow led to temporary closures and flight restrictions at nearby airports.