"Hell". Moscow's airports were paralyzed

According to information from Russia's civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsya, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports did not accept or clear planes for about 7.5 hours. The restrictions at Sheremetyevo airport lasted about five hours. More than 350 sailings have been canceled or delayed since Friday.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, stated that during the night, Russian anti-aircraft defenses were supposed to shoot down 144 Ukrainian drones approaching the city.

Some flights that were supposed to land in Moscow were diverted to alternate airports. As reported by The Moscow Times, a Pegasus Airlines plane flying from Antalya to Moscow landed in St. Petersburg. Nizhny Novgorod received, among others: aircraft carrying passengers of Aeroflot, EgyptAir and flydubai.

Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg accepted 20 redirected flights. In turn, the Strigino airport in Nizhny Novgorod reported receiving 22 planes that could not land in Moscow. Some of the travelers were to be transported to the Russian capital by bus or train.

Many hours of waiting for a flight to Hurghada and complaints from passengers

A particularly difficult situation concerns passengers on the flight of the Egyptian Air Cairo airline from Moscow to Hurghada. The plane was scheduled to take off on October 16 at 1:45 Moscow time, but its departure was postponed many times.

The machine that was supposed to handle the connection did not arrive in Moscow on time. Due to the airspace closure, it was previously redirected to Samara. Passengers were later allowed to board, but the flight was canceled again after one of the flight attendants became unwell. Passengers were told that the crew could not fly.

According to Meduza, Air Cairo has no reserve crew in Moscow. The departure was postponed to the morning of October 18, Meduza informed.

Passengers told Russian media that they did not receive reliable information about the status of their connection for a long time. They also complained about the lack of meal vouchers and hotel accommodation.

"People at the airport were losing consciousness, fighting... I have never seen such hell," one of the passengers described the incident in an interview with Ostorozhno Novosti.

As reported by the Baza website, representatives of Sheremetyevo airport finally informed that the travelers would be placed in a hotel overnight and transported there by transport organized by the airport.

Some passengers purchased trips through the Pegas tour operator. According to them, the company refused to refund the money and recommended waiting for the trip or pursuing claims in court.

Today's events, Saturday, are - according to The Moscow Times - the fourth case of restricting the operation of the Moscow airport hub within a week due to a drone threat. On the night of October 15-16, difficulties affected over 200 cruises.

Earlier, disruptions were also reported on October 9 and 14. During the first of these incidents, 785 flights were canceled or delayed, and on October 14 - nearly 550.

Sobyanin: More than half of the drones intercepted in Russia were intended to fly to Moscow

Russian air defense was to destroy 2,730 Ukrainian drones flying towards the Moscow region within a week, said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. According to data presented by the Russian Ministry of Defense, this would constitute more than half of all unmanned aerial vehicles reported since October 10.

Sobyanin said in a message on Telegram that most of the drones were destroyed by air defense systems "on the distant borders." He added that 534 drones were to be disabled while approaching Moscow.

The Russian authorities reported shooting down drones, including: over the border regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas. Drones were also allegedly detected in southern and central Russia, as well as in Tatarstan and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug.

According to Russian declarations, the most serious attack on Moscow and the Moscow Oblast was to take place on the night of September 19-20. Sobyanin then talked about repelling over 1,600 drones, including 450 while approaching the capital.