Authorities temporarily closed or restricted operations at Moscow’s airports overnight as reports described drones heading towards the Russian capital. The measures came during a broader reported attack across Russia, in which officials said air defences had intercepted drones over nearly 20 regions.

Accounts of the airport disruption differ in their wording. Stiripesurse.ro reported that all Moscow airports were closed. Notizie.it said Russia’s civil aviation authority temporarily limited operations and lifted the restrictions after a few hours. The reports did not say how many flights were affected.

Conflicting figures for drones near Moscow

Notizie.it, citing Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, reported that 467 drones had been launched towards the Moscow region and that 144 were neutralised as they approached the city. The same report separately said authorities had reported intercepting 13 aircraft: seven in an initial phase and six shortly afterwards. It did not explain how the figures of 144 and 13 relate to one another.

Stiripesurse.ro, citing the outlet Nexta, also reported that drones were heading towards Moscow, but said the number involved might be a record. The exact number directed at the capital is not established by the reports. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences neutralised 1,198 Ukrainian drones over nearly 20 regions, including Moscow and the Moscow region. Russia did not disclose how many drones entered its airspace. In late October, Moscow reported destroying 1,214 Ukrainian drones.

Deaths and damage reported in other regions

In Volgograd, the regional administration said four employees of an industrial zone in the south of the city were killed and two were injured and taken to hospital. The Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported that a refinery was targeted. Another Telegram channel, Astra, said the refinery belonged to Lukoil and was burning in several places after the overnight attack. Those reports have not been independently verified in the sources provided.

In Rostov-on-Don, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said debris from a downed drone hit a production hall and started a fire. He also reported a fire at a warehouse, damage to several apartment buildings and cars, and one person injured. Authorities in the Kursk region also reported one person injured.

Ukraine’s stated rationale for strikes

Ukraine says it attacks Russian petrochemical businesses to limit fuel supplies to Russian forces and deprive Moscow of revenue from oil sales, which it says helps fund the war. Exilenova+ assessed that Ukrainian forces may have changed their approach to refinery attacks, sending large numbers of drones against industrial zones rather than individual facilities, with the aim of keeping refineries out of operation for longer. That assessment is the channel’s, not an independently established explanation of the overnight attack.