Ukraine Warupdated 52m ago2 min read
Rosaviatsiya Orders All Four Moscow Airports To Halt Flights As Drones Approach Capital
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
All four Moscow airports suspended arrivals and departures after drones approach the capital, Rosaviatsiya said. Sheremetyevo evacuated passengers and an air raid alert was declared as drones were detected.
Explore source coverage 4 source types
Directory totals describe our source library, not outlets checked for this story.
13 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Trump Says Elon Musk Lifted Starlink Throttling for Ukraine; Kyiv Could Not Confirm →
Moscow airports halt flights
Rosaviatsiya announced that all four airports serving Moscow stopped accepting and dispatching aircraft on the afternoon of October 23, 2026, as Russian air defenses engaged drones approaching the capital. Rosaviatsiya identified Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo (DME), Vnukovo (VKO), and Zhukovsky (ZIA) and said the restrictions were published at 14:05 Moscow time, citing flight safety. Rosaviatsiya said the full closure followed earlier partial measures, with Vnukovo and Domodedovo handling flights only with clearance from the relevant authorities since 12:55 and 13:00 Moscow time.
Sheremetyevo declared an air raid alert shortly before 15:00 Moscow time and directed passengers to the nearest safe areas and shelters, while the airport restricted access to the secure airside areas of all terminals. Rosaviatsiya later said that at 16:43 Moscow time Vnukovo and Domodedovo resumed accepting and dispatching flights under the clearance regime, while it announced no change at Sheremetyevo or Zhukovsky.
Drones, sirens, and numbers
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that air defenses had destroyed nine drones flying toward the city by 13:39 Moscow time, and emergency services were working where debris had fallen. Rosaviatsiya said in a statement at 15:19 Moscow time that additional staff had been deployed at the terminals and airlines were adjusting their schedules. The Kyiv Independent reported that Rosaviatsiya announced restrictions on arriving and departing flights at 2:05 p.m. local time and said an air alert was sounded at Sheremetyevo.
The Kyiv Independent also reported that Open-source flight tracker FlightRadar24 showed 85 cancelled flights and a further 229 delayed at Sheremetyevo over the day. The Moscow Times reported that Sobyanin said air defense forces had shot down 21 Ukrainian drones that were headed to the Russian capital over a two-hour period.
Carpet plan and wider risk
DW described how Rosaviatsiya has issued an emergency safety "carpet" protocol designed to immediately shut down the airspace over a specific region or around affected airports if an aircraft violates Russian airspace, weapons are used, or unidentified objects appear in the skies. DW quoted Oleksandr Laneckij, the chief executive officer of the Friendly Avia Support consultancy, saying, "Essentially, every drone poses a military threat." DW quoted military analyst Jan Matvejev saying Ukraine could trigger the 'carpet' plan with drones that "don't have to be equipped with a warhead or even have a long range," and Matvejev added that Russia's air-defense systems were not entirely effective in preventing drones from penetrating Moscow's airspace.
The Telegraph reported that Operation Kovyor, also known as Carpet Plan, comes into effect when Russian airports face a risk of drone activity and said the protocol dictates that all aircraft on the ground must remain there. The Telegraph reported that local media said drone debris had fallen on the Sheremetyevo runway, causing 117 flights to be delayed, while Sergei Sobyanin said 17 drones heading towards the city had been intercepted.