Ukraine Paralyzed Moscow Skies With Drones
- 20.07.2025, 14:55
Russia suffered huge economic losses.
Russian civil aviation is failing and drowning in billions of dollars in losses: due to the Ukrainian UAV attack, more than 130 passenger flights were forced to change their routes due to an air alert only during the day from July 19 to 20, reports "Dialog.UA".
The skies over Moscow are closed - civil aviation in chaos
From July 19 to 20, a real collapse unfolded in the Moscow air hub. In total - 134 civilian airplanes were unable to land or take off from Russia's largest airports. People are sleeping on the floor of terminals, flights are disrupted, the air defense system can not guarantee security.
Russians complain that they have connecting flights at Istanbul airport, tickets for which disappear due to delays at Moscow airport. Russia no longer has direct air service to Europe because of the war with Ukraine.
Sheremetyevo: 78 flights left for alternate airfields; Vnukovo: 45 flights diverted; Domodedovo: 8 flights did not take a flight; Zhukovsky: 3 flights changed course.
Air Defense Forces in panic: "carpet" ban on flights
After a series of night raids by the AFU, during which almost 50 Ukrainian drones were shot down in three days, Rosaviatsia was forced to reintroduce the "carpet" plan - a complete halt to the receipt and dispatch of flights at Moscow airports.
With the threat of more attacks, the Russian military does not rule out that air defense systems could make a mistake and shoot down a civilian plane, making reopening the skies extremely risky.
Economic losses - in billions
Every day of such "disruptions" is a multi-billion dollar loss for airlines and airports, losses for the tourism and transportation sector, a drop in passenger confidence, and additional costs for logistics, fuel and compensation.
Even Turkish Airlines found itself in the epicenter of the scandal: a flight to Bodrum was stuck in Vnukovo for almost a day, and Rosaviatsia began threatening sanctions instead of explanations.
Ukraine's new tactics
In contrast to Moscow, where statements about "intercepted targets" are still heard, Ukraine acts differently. The target of Ukrainian attacks is not residential neighborhoods, but nodes of control, logistics, and economy.
Every strike on the Moscow region turns into a cascade of failures: delays in aviation, suspension of rail traffic (as happened in the Rostov region), panic in the structures responsible for security.