The key facts

  • From 12:35 to 16:10 local time, Sobyanin reported downed drones without revealing details
  • All four Moscow airports were temporarily closed; aircraft were directed to St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities
  • An evacuation took place at the IQ-Quarter tower in Moscow City; TASS attributes it to an alarm going off

Drone attack and airport closures

On the morning of October 24, the operation of all four Moscow airports was temporarily halted due to a drone attack. As DW reports, citing publications by the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin, from 12:35 to 16:10 local time he posted a series of messages about downed drones, without revealing details, noting only that emergency services were working at the sites where debris fell. At Sheremetyevo — the busiest of the four airports — a warning about the threat of an air attack was issued.

Diverted flights

Aircraft bound for Moscow were redirected to airports in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities. In particular, St. Petersburg's Pulkovo accepted 25 flights.

Debris and evacuation at Moscow City

The Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+ published, according to its claim, photographs of drone debris found on the territory of Sheremetyevo. Another monitoring channel, Exile+, reported that small-sized aerostats were also used in the attack.

Evacuation at Moscow City and Defense Ministry data

The same day, several Moscow outlets, citing eyewitnesses, reported the evacuation of people from the IQ-Quarter tower in the Moscow City business district, which houses the offices of Russia's ministries of digital development, economic development, as well as industry and trade. In a short video circulated by the channel an alarm went off due to a malfunction. On the evening of October 23, Russia's Defense Ministry reported destroying 87 Ukrainian drones over 24 hours across seven regions of the country and annexed Crimea; the report also mentioned Moscow Region.

Context and significance

The coincidence in time of the evacuation at Moscow City and the reports of downed drones leaves the question of its cause open: outlets cited eyewitnesses and an announcement about a The event affects thousands of passengers whose flights were diverted, as well as the work of the ministries housed in the evacuated building. In practical terms, this meant a temporary disruption of air traffic with Moscow and a redistribution of arriving flights to airports in other cities, including the 25 flights accepted by Pulkovo.