MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Flights to and from Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports were temporarily restricted early this morning, but at 4:30 a.m. Moscow time, the restrictions on arriving and departing flights were lifted, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) told reporters.
"This morning, on August 18, 2023, in order to ensure the safety of civil aircraft, flights were temporarily restricted to the following Moscow airports: Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky," the agency said.
Seven flights were diverted to alternate airports, where they successfully landed. Three of them landed at Strigino (Nizhny Novgorod), three flied to Pulkovo (St. Petersburg), and one flight from Istanbul landed in Minsk. After the restrictions on the use of airspace were lifted, the passengers of these flights were delivered to their destination airports.
"During the period of temporary restrictions on the reception and dispatch of flights, the crews of aircraft, air traffic controllers and ground services at airports took all necessary measures to ensure flight safety," the agency added.
Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that a drone was shot down while attempting to fly over Moscow. Its debris fell on the Expocenter, with no significant damage to the building. Emergency services told TASS that the wall of the building was damaged, with the area of the collapse about 30 square meters. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties. As well, no fires resulted from the incident.