Putin's plane reportedly blocked from landing in Moscow by drones
Russian leader Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
The plane of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on which he was returning from Turkmenistan, was unable to land immediately in Moscow and was redirected to St. Petersburg, according to Agentstvo.
On the evening of October 8, several aircraft of the Special Flight Detachment «Russia», which transports the top leadership of Russia, were circling over Moscow.
At least three aircraft were returning from Turkmenistan, where Putin participated in a CIS summit.
According to Flightradar24, several government aircraft, including two presidential Il-96-300PU planes (tail numbers RA-96022 and RA-96020), were maneuvering in the sky over the Moscow region.
One of them performed maneuvers in the air for about 30 minutes.
The delay could have been caused by temporary flight restrictions at Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo airports, which were introduced after 15:40.
Photo: Putin's plane from Turkmenistan unable to land in Moscow, lands in St. Petersburg (Flightradar24)
Footage of Putin's arrival in Turkmenistan indicates that he was flying on an Il-96 with the tail number RA-96025.
- The aircraft departed from Turkmenistan at 13:33 Moscow time.
- According to Flightradar24, the airliner was scheduled to land at Vnukovo, but changed its route and landed at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg at 17:38.
- At 18:10, the same aircraft departed from St. Petersburg heading to Moscow.
In total, four Il-96 aircraft participated in the visit to Turkmenistan. The other planes landed at Vnukovo between 18:00 and 19:00.
The Russian capital and the Moscow region are regularly subjected to drone strikes.
In particular, on October 9, Moscow and the region came under attack by UAVs and small aerial balloons, prompting the city's air defense system to activate.
Furthermore, on the night of October 6, strike drones approached the Moscow region from several directions.
According to sources, the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya, one of the largest enterprises in the industry in Russia, came under attack at that time.
