All four international airports of the Russian capital were closed due to safety concerns on Sunday afternoon after air defence forces shot down 11 Ukrainian drones within an hour, authorities said.
Russia’s civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia said air traffic restrictions were imposed at all four international airports of Moscow—Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo—due to safety concerns.
“Air defences have intercepted another UAV flying towards Moscow,” Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a post on his official Max channel.ย
“Thus, the total number of downed drones has reached 11,” he added in an update posted around 4 pm local time.
The closures come as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its fourth anniversary. Russian authorities have repeatedly claimed that Ukrainian drones have targeted multiple regions, including Moscow, while Russia has carried out missile and drone strikes across Ukraine.
Russian missile, drone barrage hits Kyiv suburbs
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones, killing one person in the Kyiv region, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said on Sunday. Another eight people, including a child, were rescued from under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the service said.
The attack caused damage and fires to erupt in five districts in the suburbs of Kyiv. In the village of Putrivka in the Fastiv district, emergency first responders worked on saving people buried under debris.
Russia also struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, resulting in significant fires, which were later extinguished, the emergency service said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Sunday that Russia’s overnight barrage had included 297 drones and 50 missiles of various types, of which 274 drones and 33 missiles were shot down or neutralised.
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