Several Russian airports suspend operations over Ukrainian drone raids

Several airports in Russia suspended operations overnight on Tuesday amid drone alerts. Over the past weeks, Kyiv has intensified its drone attacks on Russian cities, including Moscow, causing significant disruptions in Russian airspace.

Several airports in Russia suspended operations overnight on Tuesday amid drone attacks from Ukraine, reports say.The arrivals and departures of civilian aircraft were restricted at the airports of Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Tambov and Kaluga, according to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.The agency spokesperson Artyom Korenyako said in a post on Telegram, "To ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights, temporary restrictions on their entry and exit have also been introduced".The Russian Defence Ministry later claimed that 99 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over seven Russian regions from Monday evening to Tuesday morning.Over the past few days, Russian authorities shut down airports in Moscow twice, on Friday and Sunday, amid Kyiv’s drone raids into Russian territory.Since the end of April, Kyiv has intensified its drone attacks on Russia, launching hundreds of drones at Moscow and disrupting the airspace over the Russian capital.In the run-up to Moscow’s Victory Day parade, Ukrainian drones caused massive disruptions at Moscow airports for a few days in a row. At least 60,000 people had their trips delayed or cancelled, with over 300 flights affected.Russian President Vladimir Putin’s high-level guests were among those affected by the disruption. The plane carrying his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić was reportedly forced to divert to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku because of the threats in Russian airspace.