Airport chaos continues in Russia as Ukrainian drones target Moscow for the second time this week
- All four Russian airports halted operations Monday after Ukrainian drones were shot down overhead.
- Ukrainian drones have been causing disruption in the airport district in recent weeks.
Ukrainian drones on Monday caused havoc at Moscow airports for the second time in a week, grounding flights and delaying operations for hours while Russia's missile-defense system took effect.
On Monday, the Russian state media agency Tass reported midmorning flights were delayed at the Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports in addition to more than 50 flights that had been diverted earlier in the day.
The Russian Defense Ministry said two drone attacks were repelled in the region, Tass reported — one fell in the Ruza District after being suppressed by electronic warfare equipment; the other was shot down over the Istra District.
The Monday strike was shot down near the home of one of Russia's most prolific propagandists — Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russian state television network RT, The Telegraph reported. Simonyan said debris landed a few hundred meters from her home, the outlet reported.
A similar incident occurred Friday when one Ukrainian drone was intercepted in the region, causing a shutdown of the four major domestic and international airports.
The Friday incident was the third time a drone strike or debris had targeted the Moscow district, where the civilian airports are based, CNN reported.
As part of its summer counteroffensive primarily supported by Western allies, including the US, the Ukrainian military has been turning more and more to drone strikes within Russia's borders, including critical Russian targets around the Black Sea.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian drone boats badly damaged the Russian warship Olenegorsky Gornyak. A day later, sea drones hit a critical link in the supply chain used to transport fuel and military equipment between Russia and Syria.