More Than 400 Flights Delayed at Moscow's Four Airports After Drone Attack

MOSCOW — Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, placed all four of Moscow's international airports under temporary flight restrictions overnight and lifted them on Sunday morning, according to ABC News. The Russian business daily RBC reported more than 400 flights delayed since midnight across the four airports.

RBC compiled the figures from the airports' own arrival and departure boards. Sheremetyevo (SVO) carried the largest share, with 121 delayed arrivals and 126 delayed departures, and about 35 flights cancelled. Vnukovo listed 69 delayed arrivals, 60 delayed departures and 11 cancellations. Domodedovo (DME) recorded 27 delayed arrivals and a single cancellation, and Zhukovsky, the smallest of the four, reported four delayed arrivals, three delayed departures and two cancellations.

The Vnukovo press service said more than ten aircraft inbound to the airport were sent to alternate aerodromes. They could continue after the restrictions lifted and the aircraft were refueled. The affected flights had departed from Chelyabinsk, Istanbul, Dalaman, Dubai, Tashkent and Yekaterinburg. Sheremetyevo's diverted arrivals went to Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Cheboksary and St Petersburg.

Aeroflot said it was moving departure times and cancelling part of its schedule, and that some Sheremetyevo-bound flights had been sent to alternates to complete their journeys once the airspace reopened. Pobeda also reported delays and cancellations. RBC said the restrictions had been lifted at all four airports, where flight boards still showed disrupted arrivals and departures.

Restrictions across the airport system

The reviewed reports do not describe a drone reaching any of the four airports. Rosaviatsia's temporary restrictions applied to flights while the attack was underway; an airport reopening did not erase the delays and diversions already recorded on its flight board.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said drones reached the grounds of the Moscow Oil Refinery and one struck a residential building. Reuters reported through The Moscow Times that the scale of damage to the refinery was not immediately clear. Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said two people were killed in the early-morning attacks and a third later died in hospital. He put the number injured at 20; the casualty figures were revised during the day and remain preliminary.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 1,110 Ukrainian drones overnight. ABC News described that as the largest overnight figure it had found in the ministry's Telegram statements. Airways has not independently verified the ministry's count.

Why delays can outlast restrictions

The Vnukovo diversions show why lifting an airspace restriction does not immediately restore the timetable. Aircraft sent elsewhere must refuel and return to their intended destination before they can operate any onward flights assigned to them. Crew duty limits and available departure slots can add further delays, although the reviewed reports do not establish whether either became a constraint for these flights. The airport boards recorded delays and cancellations after restrictions were lifted; they do not show how long the disruption lasted.

Airspace guidance and earlier disruption

EASA's Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for Russian airspace recommends against operating west of longitude 60° East at any altitude, covering the Moscow flight information region along with Rostov-on-Don, Sankt-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Samara. Airways covered the guidance when EASA first issued it in January 2025; the agency revised the bulletin on July 24, 2026 and extended its validity to January 31, 2027. The recommendation is addressed to operators subject to EASA rules and to EASA-authorized third-country operators when flying to, from or within the EU. The bulletin is advisory and predates Sunday's airport restrictions.

Airways reported that Pegasus Airlines cancelled a dozen Moscow flights overnight on September 2, when temporary restrictions affected Vnukovo. Later that day, Ukraine notified the International Civil Aviation Organization about risks in Russian airspace. EASA's bulletin cites the December 2024 loss of Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 near Aktau as an example of the risk it describes. Azerbaijani officials linked that crash to a Russian air defense system.

What is not yet established

The reviewed reports do not give the time restrictions began at each airport or establish when flight schedules recovered. They also do not establish that any carrier suspended Moscow service rather than adjusting individual flights.