Rosaviatsia, Russia's federal air transport agency, introduced the "Carpet" plan at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports. The restrictions took effect at about 15:40 local time, the agency said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses repelled an attack by 15 drones. Residents of the capital's southern districts reported the sounds of explosions and smoke in the sky. According to Astra, such reports came from Kapotnya, Kuzminki, Lyublino, Maryino, Tsaritsyno, Chertanovo, Orekhovo-Borisovo, Tekstilshchiki and Nagatinsky Zaton.
More than 300 flights were delayed or canceled, the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti reported. At Vnukovo, more than 100 flights were delayed over 24 hours — 50 departures and 53 arrivals. About 73 were canceled. At Domodedovo, about 30 flights had been delayed since the night, with six canceled. At Sheremetyevo, 26 departures and 43 arrivals were delayed.
According to the FlightRadar24 service, Vnukovo was the worst affected: more than 40% of flights were delayed, with an average delay of 102 minutes, and another 10% were canceled.
Aeroflot acknowledged that on October 9 it was "forced to adjust its schedule by moving departure times and canceling some flights," but did not specify how many. Some flights were diverted to alternate airfields, the company said.
The Telegram channel Novaya Ploshchad claims that four aircraft of the Rossiya flight detachment are circling in a holding zone near Moscow. Three of them are flying from Turkmenistan, where Vladimir Putin's visit had ended. There is no confirmation of this.
Over the Yaroslavl region, small reconnaissance balloons launched from Ukrainian territory were shot down, the regional Ministry of Regional Security reported. Yaroslavl authorities had earlier reported the destruction of balloons.
The Telegram channel Ukraine context, linked to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office, Kyrylo Budanov, claims that Kyiv has begun blocking Russia's airspace. Vladimir Zelensky warned of this on September 1. There is no confirmation of this.
Moscow-region airports also faced restrictions on the night of October 9. At that time, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky were closed because of the threat of a drone attack. The flight ban was lifted by 7:00 a.m., but Zhukovsky suspended operations twice more after that. In total, more than 150 flights were delayed overnight.
Sources differ: Novaya Ploshchad and Ukraine context report aircraft of the Rossiya flight detachment in a holding zone and Kyiv's blocking of Russian airspace — there is no confirmation of these reports, and official sources have not commented on them. According to the Defense Ministry and the Moscow mayor, the matter concerns the repelling of a drone attack over the city.