Russia is facing major transport chaos at its airports: in Moscow and St. Petersburg alone, nearly 100 flights have been canceled and several hundred more delayed. Many passengers have been stranded in terminals for over nine hours.
The worst situation is at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, where over 170 flights have been delayed and nearly 50 canceled. Terminals are overcrowded, with new arrivals mixing with stranded travelers. People are forced to sit and lie on the floor, with no available space even in cafes or business lounges.
Some passengers have been kept on planes after landing, reporting that they have been stuck on board for up to four hours.
Conditions in St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport are also strained: more than 30 flights have been canceled and around 100 delayed. The airport had been shut down due to another drone attack threat and only recently reopened. One plane that managed to depart from Sheremetyevo for Pulkovo was forced to turn back to Moscow.
Delays and cancellations have also been reported at other airports in Moscow, as well as in Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad, and other cities.
Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that two drones heading for the city were shot down. Emergency services are working at the crash sites.