Russian authorities on Thursday closed all 4 of Moscow’s airports, plus a fifth one in a metropolis about 100 miles southwest of the nation’s capital, citing unspecified security considerations.
In whole 5 airports, 4 of that are positioned in Russia’s capital, Moscow, have been “briefly not accepting or sending flights,” based on an announcement from Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia.
“To guarantee the security of civil plane flights, short-term restrictions have been launched on the operation of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Kaluga airports,” Rosaviatsia, mentioned in a submit on Telegram.
The Moscow airports reopened after being briefly closed. The fifth airport is in Kaluga, round 100 miles from Moscow remained closed Thursday afternoon.
Officials didn’t give a direct or exact cause for the closures.
“Aircraft crews, air site visitors controllers and airport providers take all crucial measures to make sure flight security — that is the highest precedence,” based on the official assertion posted to Telegram.
Officials didn’t give a direct or exact cause for the closures.
Nearly two years after President Vladimir Putin invaded Russia’s smaller neighbor, Ukraine has pushed the conflict into Russia.
On Thursday, air raid sirens sounded within the Oryol area and in Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine after invading in 2014. Sirens have been additionally reported within the Russian metropolis of Taganrog, positioned in Rostov, which borders Ukraine, based on the Russian information outlet RBC.
Two Ukrainian missiles have been shot down within the Kursk area with no harm or casualties, based on a submit on the Kursk area Telegram channel, after it was introduced that the 5 Russian airports had been shut down.
A 3rd Ukrainian missile was shot down in Kursk shortly after Moscow’s airports reopened, officers mentioned.
This comes a month after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow for the reason that full-scale war began.
The airports short-term closures come on the identical day that the Kremlin warned in opposition to speculating what might have precipitated an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to crash, killing 38 of the 67 on board, after an aviation knowledgeable mentioned proof indicated {that a} Russian anti-missile battery may have brought down the passenger plane.
There is rising hypothesis that Russian air defenses could also be behind the crash.
“Subsequent reporting and contextual info, together with the follow-on video examination of the wreckage” indicated that “the flight was doubtless shot down by a Russian air protection system,” mentioned Matthew Borie, chief intelligence officer on the aviation safety agency Osprey Flight Solutions, in an interview with NBC News.
On Wednesday, many Ukrainians have been compelled to rejoice Christmas with out warmth or energy after Russia launched an attack on the country’s energy infrastructure.
