Russian travellers are facing unprecedented airport chaos as waves of Ukrainian drone attacks disrupt airspace around Moscow.
Anger and frustration are mounting as passengers endure delays lasting hours — and, in some cases, days — amid the continuing war ordered by Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin leader and his military commanders have also been accused of spreading “lies” after claiming to have “liberated” frontline settlements that Ukraine says remain under its control.
Video footage shows exhausted passengers sleeping on airport floors in Moscow. The capital’s four main airports have experienced more than 1,000 hours of closures this month.
Check-in staff have reportedly been brought to tears as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky begins to fulfil his threat to shut down airspace around the Russian capital.
Sheremetyevo Airport recorded more than 100 disruptions early today, while Vnukovo Airport reported 150 delayed or cancelled flights.
Ukraine sent dozens of drones into the Moscow region, triggering widespread disruption to flights and forcing airport authorities to suspend operations.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said: “Seventy-five drones heading towards Moscow have been destroyed.
A woman claims online that she was left waiting for 30 hours at a Moscow airport for a flight to Tyumen in Siberia
A large crowd of passengers was stranded at a Moscow airport after Ukrainian drone attacks caused lengthy flight delays
A departures board at a Russian airport shows that most flights have been cancelled
“Emergency services specialists are working at the crash sites.”
One passenger responded sarcastically: “We have to endure it. Before the [war], the situation was much worse.”
Another passenger posted: “**** Putin.”
A 34-year-old woman said: “My holiday is completely ruined. The blame for this lies in the Kremlin.”
The disruption came as Donald Trump took another step that critics said would benefit, rather than weaken, Putin’s war effort.
Trump signed an executive order temporarily blocking “hellish sanctions” approved by Congress against Russia over the conflict.
The move followed concerns that 500 per cent tariffs on Russian energy resources could undermine his plans to increase the supply of Putin’s diesel to global markets.
Trump hopes lower fuel prices will help ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3.
Ukraine strikes Russia’s largest gas condensate processing plant in Surgut, 2,600km (1,615 miles) from the border, targeting a Gazprom facility capable of processing up to 12 million tonnes a year
Smoke rose from the Chernomyrdin Surgut Condensate Stabilisation Plant owned by Gazprom in remote Khanty-Mansi region
Sheremetyevo Airport was hit by more than 100 disruptions early today while Vnukovo Airport suffered 150 delays or cancellations
Kirill Dmitriev, envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday described Mr Trump’s decision to waive the US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia’s energy revenues as a ‘historic moment’.
DISCOVER MORE: Prince Harry Reveals King Charles Became Upset Immediately After Prince William Posed a Certain Question – NewsFinale
Mr Dmitriev said: ‘The Trump administration’s suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment.’
He added that the sanctions would have caused ‘serious damage first and foremost to the US economy and global markets’.
The move by Mr Trump followed the reported partial blocking of Starlink’s internet service to the Ukrainian armed forces and threats to halt intelligence sharing with Kyiv, steps criticised by Mr Zelensky.
There is speculation their relationship is now at ‘breaking point’.
Mr Putin and his top war commander General Valery Gerasimov sought to persuade Mr Trump that he is on the point of major war breakthroughs – yet they were accused of ‘lies’.
General Gerasimov claimed the ‘liberation’ of key frontline hubs Dobropillia, Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka and Serhiivka, as well as the destruction of a 2,000-strong Ukrainian force encircled in the Kharkiv region.
They fictitiously claimed the entire Luhansk region was in Russian hands – as they have falsely claimed before.
Passengers asleep on the floor of an airport in Russia amid the travel chaos
People sleeping in an airport cafe as they are left stranded by flight cancellations
One passenger claims she has been left stranded in Russia for three days
Mr Putin – wearing his commander-in-chief’s military uniform – said: ‘Overall, I note a positive trend in the actions of the force groupings….
‘The pace of advancement has quickened, as evidenced by the results achieved in carrying out combat missions…..’
He boasted of the ‘capture of the city of Dobropillia’ when it is partially controlled by Ukraine, and said: ‘The liberation of Donetsk People’s Republic remains, without a doubt, one of our primary objectives.’
Even Russian pro-war channels accused Moscow of making an AI video of a soldier waving a Russian flag in blitzed Dobropillia.
He has so far missed 14 separate deadlines for taking control of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and has recently lost territory here.
General Gerasimov told Putin Russian forces were already three miles from Zaporizhzhia.
Military Informant channel indicated the claim was nonsense and said: ‘There is simply no point in picking all this apart.’
Meanwhile, Ukraine staged a devastating 1,615-mile strike at Russia’s largest facility for producing oil and gas condensate mixtures in Siberian city Surgut – Mr Putin’s oil capital.
Smoke rose from the Chernomyrdin Surgut Condensate Stabilisation Plant owned by Gazprom in remote Khanty-Mansi region.
Russian forces inflicted more agony on Ukraine overnight as Mr Putin seeks to switch off electricity, water and heating for winter.
A power plant was hit in Zhytomyr, a metals plant in Kryvyi Rih, Mr Zelensky’s birthplace, and a steelworks in Zaporizhzhia.
Russia dropped FAB-250 aerial bombs on Sloviansk, hitting a residential building where one was killed and ten wounded, with searches underway amid the rubble.
NEXT UP: Steven Seagal Unveils 400lb Physique at Russia’s Victory Day Parade