Russia twice grounds Moscow-Sochi flight over drone attack threat
Aircraft arrivals were restricted twice in Sochi (Photo: Getty Images)
In Russia, on the evening of June 5, a plane on the Moscow–Sochi route was forced to land twice due to the threat of an attack by unknown drones. A third takeoff may be postponed until morning, according to the Russian public channel Ostorozhno Novosti.
According to passengers on flight SU1132, the departure from Moscow took place on June 5 at approximately 6:00 pm. The final destination was Sochi, but they were unable to get there because, around 9:00 pm, temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were introduced in the city due to the threat of a drone attack.
For this reason, the plane landed in Astrakhan. A little later, the plane tried again to fly to Sochi, but at 11:00 pm, flight restrictions were reintroduced there. As a result, the aircraft landed again, this time in Mineralnye Vody.
Preliminary reports indicate that takeoff may be postponed until morning.
Other incidents
On the night of June 3, Moscow Mayor Sobyanin regularly reported that unknown drones were flying toward the Russian capital and that air defense systems were allegedly shooting them down.
Early that same morning, drones attacked an oil terminal in the port of St. Petersburg, resulting in a large-scale fire.
Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the Defense Forces of Ukraine had struck ships and infrastructure facilities at the port of Kronstadt in Russia's Leningrad region.
