Moscow Airports Face Nine-Hour Closures Daily

Ukrainian drone strikes have grounded flights at Moscow's major airports nearly every day in October 2026. The closures affected Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo. On several days, operations were suspended for up to nine hours. The independent outlet Agentstvo reported these recurring disruptions.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined this strategy in early September. He stated that Ukraine intended to make Russian airspace around Moscow and other cities completely unsafe. Ukraine sent a warning to the International Civil Aviation Organization the following day. This follows the closure of Ukrainian airspace since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The immediate cause of the closures is a procedure used by Rosaviatsiya, Russia's aviation authority. Known as the carpet protocol, it mandates closing airspace when an aircraft violates borders, weapons are fired, or unidentified objects appear. Oleksandr Laneckij, chief executive of Friendly Avia Support, noted that every drone is treated as a military threat under this rule. He compared the situation to the impact of Yemen's Houthis on Saudi airspace, adding that Ukraine possesses greater military capability.

Military analyst Jan Matvejev stated that Ukraine can easily disrupt traffic without fully closing airspace. Simple drones without warheads are sufficient to trigger the protocol. Ukraine's industry produces hundreds of long-range combat-ready drones daily. Simon Shuster wrote in The Atlantic in October that Ukraine's efforts are just getting started. Matvejev argued that Russian air defenses are not fully effective, noting that Russia would have deployed more troops if it had the resources to shoot down the drones.

Experts warn of risks to civilian aircraft. Laneckij said Russia might lower the threshold for declaring the protocol, increasing the danger of incidents similar to the December 2024 crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight. Investigators determined that a Russian air-defense missile, fired to counter drones, hit the plane, killing 38 people. Matvejev said little has changed in Russia's protocol since that event. He noted that machine guns pose low risk to aircraft, but missiles from mass production could veer toward nearby airliners.

Matvejev added that drones do not need explosives to cause damage because a collision is dangerous. A drone traveling from Ukraine to Moscow typically weighs dozens of kilograms. Disruptions have extended beyond Moscow. Ukrainian forces attacked Pskov airport in the summer of 2023. Drone debris fell on Sochi airport earlier this month. Russia has also struck Ukrainian airports, including Kyiv and Boryspil, according to Zelenskyy in September.

Laneckij said the decision for foreign airlines to keep flying to Russia depends on three factors: military threat, demand, and insurance costs. If insurers view the risk as high, premiums could rise sharply, increasing ticket prices. Competition in the Russian aviation market has shrunk as airlines have gone out of business. This has increased demand for seats on remaining foreign carriers. Laneckij stated that carriers will stay or go based on the price they must pay for the danger faced.