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🇵🇱 Poland /Energy & Infrastructure

Moscow airports paralyzed as airlines grow wary of flying to Russia

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Ongoing story
  • Russian aviation authorities repeatedly restricted operations at Moscow’s main airports after reporting an aerial threat, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 548 drones had been launched over the capital within 24 hours.
  • Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed, and Pegasus and Turkish Airlines suspended or canceled services between Turkey and Russia.
  • A Kyiv source said Ukraine had planned mass drone attacks to disrupt Moscow’s airports and pressure foreign airlines to stop flying to Russia.

Moscow’s airports have been repeatedly disrupted after Ukraine began an operation involving mass drone attacks over the Russian capital. Airlines have suspended flights, which is precisely the result Kyiv is seeking.

Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, restricted operations several times at Moscow’s main airports on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning because of an aerial threat. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Ukrainian forces had launched 548 drones over the capital in 24 hours. Russian officials said 143 had been destroyed.

Completely dangerous

· Volodymyr ZelenskyyThe Ukrainian president used the phrase to describe the risks to civil aviation in Russian airspace.

The flight disruptions began after Sept. 1, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian airspace was becoming “completely dangerous” for civil aviation and that carriers would have to account for the presence of Ukrainian drones. Flightradar24 reported that 21 flights from Sheremetyevo were canceled during the night of Sept. 2, while 235 faced major delays. At Vnukovo, 22 flights were canceled and 94 delayed.

Technical and operational reasons

· PegasusThe Turkish airline cited these reasons after canceling dozens of flights between Turkey and Russia.

Pegasus, Turkey’s largest private airline, turned its aircraft back during flights to Moscow on the night of Sept. 2. It later canceled dozens of flights between Turkey and Russia, citing “technical and operational reasons.” Turkish Airlines also canceled flights. The Moscow aviation hub was paralyzed again during the night of Sept. 3.

A Kyiv source told The Atlantic that Ukraine had begun an operation to block Moscow’s airports through mass drone attacks. The plan had reportedly been developed since at least the beginning of 2026 and involved sending up to 1,000 AI-equipped drones toward airports each day. Ukraine hopes to force foreign airlines to stop flying to Russia altogether.

Protect aircraft from threats in conflict zones

· International Civil Aviation OrganizationICAO urged member states to protect aircraft amid the reported airspace danger.

Ukraine notified the International Civil Aviation Organization of what it called a threat to Russian airspace caused by “increased military activity.” ICAO urged members to “protect aircraft from threats in conflict zones.” Rosaviatsia rejected Ukraine’s warnings about dangerous Russian skies as false, while saying it would take additional measures to ensure the safe use of Russian airspace. The agency said Russian air transport and ground infrastructure continued to operate normally, including flights by foreign airlines.

Increased military activity

· UkraineUkraine used the phrase when notifying ICAO about the reported threat to Russian airspace.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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