By The Moscow Times | Created at 2026-06-22 08:10:16 | Updated at 2026-06-22 10:01:36
2 hours ago
Moscow airports temporarily suspended flights on Monday morning after local authorities reported that dozens of Ukrainian drones were targeting the capital, just days after the city faced its largest air raid since the start of the war.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin began reporting that drones were heading toward the capital around 3 a.m. local time. By 10 a.m., he said that air defenses had intercepted a total of 80 Ukrainian drones around the city.
Sobyanin said emergency services were responding to various drone crash sites but did not report any casualties or immediate damage.
Civil aviation authorities said operations at Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports were suspended during the multi-hour attack for safety reasons. The flight restrictions were lifted later in the morning.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 301 Ukrainian drones across the country and in annexed Crimea between Sunday night and Monday morning.
The latest attacks come days after Ukraine targeted a major Moscow oil refinery that supplies a significant share of the fuel for the capital and its surrounding region.
Also on Monday, Ukrainian authorities reported that a Russian drone strike set fire to a cargo vessel en route to Ukraine, killing one crew member.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba stated that eight sailors, including citizens of Turkey and India, were forced to flee the attack on a life raft, adding that the vessel "sustained significant damage and lost seaworthiness."
AFP contributed reporting.
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