Russian airports had to put some “restrictions” in place after Ukraine decided to go big with their drone attack, the largest ever in the country. The attack even caused Moscow’s airport to close down on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed they took out a whopping 524 Ukrainian drones, making it the biggest attack on Russian soil since the war kicked off back on 24 February 2022. This chaos affected not only Moscow’s Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo airports, but also other cities like Kirov, Yaroslavl, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod. These places all reported major disruptions, leaving travelers stranded and flights delayed. Artem Korenyako, a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, said they had to do what they did to make sure civil aircraft flights were safe. This messed up a whole bunch of flights for Aeroflot, S7, and Pobeda. Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) even chimed in, saying, “Dozens of flights have been postponed at Domodedovo Airport. A similar situation is observed at other airports in Moscow and the regions of Russia.” Sounds like a mess.
The Russian Association of Tour Operators shared that a whopping 60,000 passengers were either stuck waiting or facing cancellations thanks to Ukraine’s drone attack. The Moscow Times added on, saying, “Due to the peculiarities of airlines’ schedule planning, these delays and cancellations will not be the end of it: planes that did not arrive at their destination on time will be late for other flights as well.” What a headache! This week, Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin’s spokesman, made it clear that if Ukraine pulls anything funny during Vladimir Putin’s “three-day truce,” there’s going to be some consequences.
Putin tried to be all nice by announcing a little ceasefire back on 28 April so everyone could enjoy the Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May. But, you know, there’s always a catch. Peskov mentioned, “the relevant instructions have been given by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” and then went right into a warning. If Ukraine doesn’t play nice and decides to go against Putin’s demands, well, there’s going to be trouble. Peskov warned, “The fire will be stopped, but if there is no reciprocity from the Kyiv regime and attempts to strike our positions or our facilities continue, then an adequate response will be given immediately.” Yikes! And if things get really out of hand, the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council said if Ukraine attacks Moscow on 9 May, “nobody will be able to guarantee Kyiv will live to see May 10.” Talk about intense.
All this mess caused over 350 flights to get canceled or grounded due to the drone attacks. People were not happy, to say the least. Airports all over Russia, including Moscow’s, had to shut down, leaving passengers and planes stuck. It’s a real mess out there.
In conclusion, Russia is in quite a pickle thanks to Ukraine’s big drone attack. The airports are a mess, flights are delayed or canceled, and no one really knows what’s going to happen next. Let’s hope things calm down soon.
