Moscow hit by major drone attack, airports briefly shut down

Nearly 60 drones headed toward Moscow were shot down in the early hours of Monday, forcing the capital’s four main airports to suspend operations briefly and once again bringing the war’s air campaign into the daily life of Russians far from the front. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were sent to areas where drones fell, but he gave no damage details.

Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovskiy all halted flights before reopening later in the day, a disruption that has become a recurring feature of Moscow’s wartime routine. The stoppages were temporary, but they showed how a city that once seemed insulated from the fighting now has its airports, emergency crews and civilian schedule repeatedly pulled into the conflict.

Russian newswires, citing the defense ministry, said air defenses intercepted 301 drones overnight across Russia, including occupied areas. That figure suggested Monday’s attack was not an isolated strike on the capital but part of a much wider barrage stretching beyond Moscow. At the same time, separate Russian attacks in Ukraine killed two people and wounded six, underscoring that the air war has become a relentless exchange of drones, missiles and infrastructure damage on both sides.

The scale also pointed back to the June 18 assault that Moscow said involved around 180 drones intercepted near the capital. That attack hit the refinery in Kapotnya, caused minor damage to a shopping center and left 17 people injured, according to Russian authorities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “fully justified response” to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities.

Together, the two raids show the pressure now landing on Moscow itself. Repeated drone attacks are no longer only a military problem at the front. They are closing airports, activating emergency crews and forcing Russian civilians to live with the same kind of aerial disruption that has defined the war in Ukraine for more than three years.