Drone attacks ahead of May 9 disrupted operations at 40 Russian airports. That's twice as many as a year ago

Drone attacks ahead of May 9 disrupted operations at 40 Russian airports. That's twice as many as a year ago

From May 4 to May 8, at least 40 Russian airports imposed restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures because of Ukrainian drone attacks, Vyorstka calculated based on statements from Rosaviatsia and the Transport Ministry.

The biggest disruption to airport operations came on May 8. In the first half of the day alone, 25 airports imposed restrictions, 13 of them in the Southern Federal District.

UAV attacks affected just one fewer airport on May 5. That day, 24 airports canceled flights, mainly in the Central and Volga federal districts. On May 4 and May 7, drones disrupted the operation of 13 and 11 airports respectively. And on May 6, restrictions were imposed by only one transport hub, Volgograd Airport.

The airports that suffered from the attacks most often were Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Yaroslavl, Perm, and Volgograd, where restrictions were imposed on four of the five days before Victory Day. Two more airports, in Ulyanovsk and Cherepovets, suspended operations on three of the five days.

Compared with the same period in 2025, the number of airports affected by Ukrainian UAV attacks doubled: ahead of Victory Day last year, drones disrupted the operation of only 21 transport hubs. Back then, the peak in restrictions came on May 6, when flights were suspended at 15 airports.

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