Three of Moscow’s major airports were forced to halt operations on Sunday (Jan. 4) after Ukrainian forces launched dozens of drones targeting the Russian capital, authorities reported. The unprecedented wave of attacks disrupted air travel across the city, causing flight delays and temporary closures at the country’s busiest hubs.
According to Russian media, Vnukovo Airport, Moscow’s second-busiest airport, was among those affected, with multiple flights delayed as a result of the security measures. The closures extended to Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, forcing airlines to adjust schedules and passengers to face significant disruptions.
Artem Korenyako, a spokesperson for the Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsia, said the closures were a precautionary measure aimed at ensuring flight safety. “The restrictions are necessary to ensure flight safety,” he said on the messaging platform Telegram. Less than an hour later, Korenyako announced that all three airports had partially reopened, allowing some flights to resume.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that Russian air defense forces had intercepted at least 27 drones heading toward the capital. In a series of posts on Telegram, Sobyanin said the city’s defenses successfully neutralized the aerial threats, preventing further damage and civilian casualties in the capital itself.
The Ukrainian government did not immediately comment on the strikes. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both sides have increasingly deployed drones and missile strikes against military and, at times, civilian targets, with Ukraine frequently targeting strategic infrastructure inside Russia.
Sunday’s attacks mark one of the largest disruptions to Moscow’s airspace in recent months, highlighting the growing sophistication and reach of Ukrainian drone operations. Russia has repeatedly responded to these attacks by temporarily closing its airspace or imposing flight restrictions to mitigate the threat.
In addition to the strikes on Moscow, the Russian border region of Belgorod, which lies near Ukraine, was also hit by a Ukrainian drone attack earlier on Sunday. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that a drone strike targeted a car carrying a family, killing one person and injuring two others, including a four-year-old child. The incident underscores the ongoing danger that cross-border drone attacks pose to Russian civilians, even outside the immediate war zone.
The repeated drone strikes on Moscow come amid a broader intensification of the nearly four-year war, which has already resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and widespread destruction across Ukraine. Analysts suggest that Ukraine’s drone campaign is intended both as a tactical measure to disrupt Russian logistics and as a psychological operation aimed at demonstrating that Moscow is not beyond the reach of Ukrainian attacks.
For Russian authorities, the strikes present a dual challenge: defending the capital and key civilian infrastructure from increasingly agile drone attacks while maintaining normal daily life for residents. Sobyanin and other officials have emphasized the readiness of city defenses, but repeated incidents raise questions about long-term security measures and the ability of air defense systems to fully counter small, fast-moving aerial threats.
Meanwhile, air travelers in Moscow faced a day of disruption, with multiple delays reported as airlines adjusted to the sudden closures. Airports have urged passengers to check flight status updates and arrive early, acknowledging the possibility of further interruptions if drone attacks continue.
As the conflict grinds into its fourth year, drone strikes and countermeasures have become a central feature of the war, reflecting both sides’ adoption of new technology in an increasingly asymmetric battlefield. Sunday’s events in Moscow and Belgorod are a stark reminder that the war’s impacts extend beyond Ukraine’s borders, reaching deep into Russian territory and affecting ordinary civilians alongside military targets.
