Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports restricted the reception and departure of flights on the night of August 10 due to another drone attack on the capital.
“For reasons beyond the airport’s control, temporary restrictions on the reception and release of aircraft have been imposed at Vnukovo from 2.43 a.m. onwards. <…> Since 5.15 hours the restrictions on flights have been lifted”, Vnukovo said (quoted by RIA Novosti).
Similar measures were reported in Domodedovo. “In order to provide additional flight safety measures at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, temporary restrictions were imposed on the reception and departure of aircraft. The restrictions were in effect from 2.59 to 5.15”, – specified there.
In total, the arrival of almost 30 flights was delayed at the two airports. According to the online scoreboard, 20 flights were delayed in Domodedovo, and 9 flights were delayed in Vnukovo. Also in Vnukovo the departure of three flights was delayed. The arriving planes were diverted to other air havens.
At Vnukovo airport at about 02.30, the plan “Carpet” was put into effect, which is announced when unknown or dangerous objects are detected in the sky, wrote the telegram channel Baza.
Two attack drones flying towards Moscow were shot down by air defense forces at around 4 a.m., the capital’s mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said earlier. According to him, one drone was eliminated in the Kaluga region and the other near the Central Ring Road (CRR).
As the Defense Ministry later clarified, one drone was destroyed in the sky over the Maloyaroslavl district of the Kaluga region, and the second – over the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. Also, two drones were hit near Sevastopol, and another nine were suppressed by electronic warfare. There were no casualties or damage, the agency said.
The night before, Sobyanin announced an attempt by two drones to attack Moscow. Both were shot down by air defense, one near Domodedovo and the other off the Minsk highway. The previous attack occurred on the morning of August 6, when one drone went down in the Podolsk district of Moscow Region. At that time, Vnukovo also reported that it temporarily stopped receiving and dispatching airplanes “for reasons beyond the airport’s control”.
Since August 1, Turkmenistan Airlines was the first to announce the halt of flights to Moscow due to the risks posed by the increasing frequency of drone attacks. The company will not make flights to the Russian capital until at least August 22.
