Tel Aviv: Multiple airlines have paused or had flights to Moscow disrupted because of recent drone attacks on the Russian capital and elsewhere in Russia. Reports say Moscow’s airports were temporarily closed or had operations suspended during mass drone strikes, with authorities citing safety after air-defence interceptions and debris risks.
Israeli airline EL AL announced on June 25 (Thursday) that following the latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine and the aviation incidents in the region, it is suspending its operations on the Tel Aviv-Moscow route for the coming days. The decision comes at a time when Ukraine is increasing the attacks on Russian territory, including attacks on energy, communications and electricity infrastructure in the Moscow region and in the Crimean Peninsula.
Moscow experienced large overnight drone raids that forced temporary suspensions at its main airports Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky, while authorities dealt with air-defence activity and debris risk to flight operations.
Russian authorities reported hundreds of drones intercepted across the country during some waves, and in those events dozens to hundreds of drones were reported shot down near the capital, prompting civil-aviation safety measures and flight halts.
Active air-defence engagements near airport airspace create unacceptable risks from falling debris and make safe approach/departure procedures impossible, so regulators temporarily suspend operations until the threat is cleared.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
