All four of Moscow’s airports — Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo — shut down arrivals and departures amid the largest Ukrainian drone attack on the capital since the start of the full-scale war.
Aeroflot urged passengers to check online departure boards before heading to any of the airports. Anyone whose flight was canceled should not come to the airport and should instead arrange a refund or rebook remotely, the carrier said on its Telegram channel.
At Sheremetyevo alone, roughly 30 flights scheduled to depart between 2:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. were canceled, according to online departure boards.
All four airports closed twice overnight on June 18 because of the drone attack. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency announced at 8:00 a.m. that operations were resuming, but flights were suspended again within an hour.
At Sheremetyevo, staff and passengers — including those already on board aircraft — were evacuated to safe locations, TASS reported, citing the airport administration. Passengers were directed to shelters and access to the terminals was closed.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency reported that passengers stranded at Moscow airports were being provided with mats and mattresses, that drinking fountains and water coolers were available, and that free mother-and-child rooms had been opened.
Nearly 200 drones attacked Moscow overnight on June 18. The strikes sparked a fire at a Moscow oil refinery. Traffic has been restricted on a number of streets across the city, including a section of the ring road.
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