Ukraine drone strike disrupts 22 Russian airports, over 200 flights

A massive overnight drone strike at the airports has caused chaos at 22 civilian airports across the western part of Russia and the Volga region, including all four Moscow hubs between October 15 and October 16. This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that “we're done” with the energy ceasefire announced by the US President Donald Trump.

St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport (LED), Tambov Airport (TBW), Yaroslavl Airport (CEE), Yaroslavl Airport (IAR), Penza Airport (PEZ), and Saratov Airport (GSV) were all temporarily closed. According to Interfax, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Domodedovo Airport (DME), Vnukovo Airport, and Zhukovsky Airport were completely grounded simultaneously for over five hours, with Domodedovo facing a cumulative seven-hour shutdown.

Russian Federal Regulator, between 12:30 am and 3:52 am, Rosaviatsiya announced airspace closed and grounded runways across nine additional cities: Cherepovets, Yaroslavl, Tambov, Penza, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Saransk, and Ulyanovsk. By 5:05 am, the restrictions spread to five more regional hubsKazan, Nizhnekamsk, Bugulma, Samara, and Cheboksary.

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According to Rosaviatsiya, all 22 airports are operational now. Restrictions were lifted first at Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo at 5:06 am local time, followed by Domodedovo and Zhukovsky at 5:43 am. In St. Petersburg, Pulkovo Airport (LED) cleared its restrictions and resumed full flights by roughly 9:00 am local time. Though residual delays and chaos continue. Over 200 flights were actively cancelled or postponed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

On October 16, 2026, TASS declared that the Russian Defence Ministry had confirmed that Ukraine launched 644 drones, with 57 of them heading directly towards Moscow.