On the night of May 6, amid a massive attack by Ukrainian drones, temporary flight restrictions were imposed at 13 Russian airports. At 00:57 Moscow time, three major airports in the capital—Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky—stopped accepting and departing aircraft, reported Rosaviation representative Artem Korenyako. At 1:15, Sheremetyevo Airport suspended operations. At the same time, restrictive measures were introduced at airports in Kaluga, Volgograd, and Saratov.
At 2:00 Moscow time, Samara's airport operations were limited, followed by those in Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, and Yaroslavl. At 5:40 Moscow time, Kazan and Nizhnekamsk airports temporarily halted arrivals and departures. However, by 5 a.m., airports in Saratov, Volgograd, and the Moscow region resumed operations. By 6 a.m. Moscow time, airports in Samara, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, and Yaroslavl returned to their normal operations. During the restrictions, 34 aircraft were sent to backup airfields in Moscow, while three were redirected to regional airfields, Korenyako noted.
Previously, the most airports in Russia were shut down due to a drone attack threat on January 24. That night, flights were temporarily halted at 10 airports in the Moscow region, as well as in Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Penza, Samara, Saratov, and Ulyanovsk.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense's report, on the night of May 6, 105 Ukrainian drones were shot down over 11 regions. The largest number of drones was destroyed over Bryansk region—32. Another 22 drones were intercepted over Voronezh region, 19 over the Moscow region, 10 over Penza region, 9 over Kaluga, and 6 over Belgorod. Additionally, two drones were downed over Lipetsk and Samara regions, and one each over Vladimir, Kursk, and Rostov regions.
