Multiple Moscow airports suspended takeoffs and landings overnight as Ukrainian long-range drones reached the Russian capital during President Vladimir Putin's return flight from Azerbaijan, The New York Times reported.

Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo — the three federal airports anchoring Moscow's hub network — each imposed temporary closures under Russia's wartime "Plan Kover" protocol, which redirects civil traffic away from airspace declared under attack.

Which airports were affected?

Sheremetyevo, Russia's busiest international gateway and the main base of the Aeroflot group, was the first facility ordered to halt operations. Vnukovo, traditionally used for senior government and presidential movements, followed. Domodedovo, the privately operated hub serving southern Moscow, shut shortly afterward. The sequenced closures forced aircraft already airborne to divert to alternate fields, including Pulkovo in St. Petersburg and regional hubs further east.

What is "Plan Kover"?

"Plan Kover," derived from a Russian word meaning "cover," is the standing wartime procedure activated at the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It hands the defense ministry and military air traffic control the authority to clear or restrict civil airspace the moment hostile aircraft or drones are detected.

The protocol has triggered dozens of multi-hour shutdowns across Russian cities as Ukrainian drone ranges and airframe speeds have grown. Recent strikes have hit targets within several hundred kilometers of Moscow, compressing drone flight times and reducing the warning window for civil aviation operators.

Why does the timing matter?

The closure landed at a politically sensitive moment. Putin was returning from Baku, where he had concluded talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. His presidential flight operates from Vnukovo, where a dedicated VIP terminal handles official movements. With that facility offline, his return routing required adjustment before the aircraft could land.

The coincidence illustrates how Russian leadership transport has become entangled in the war's aerial dimension. Ukrainian strikes have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to threaten Moscow's airspace, complicating official air movements in ways defensive escorts alone cannot neutralize.

What is the operational fallout?

Each multi-hour closure strands tens of thousands of passengers across the Moscow hub system and forces airline operations centers into overnight re-accommodation. Russian carriers — primarily Aeroflot, S7, Ural Airlines and Rossiya — absorb compounding crew-duty costs and aircraft-rotation pressure when their hubs reopen.

Foreign operators still serving Russian airports over restricted corridors take similar losses. Dispatch reliability, already pressured by Western sanctions on parts, spares and insurance, takes another hit with every unscheduled shutdown.

What happens next?

Moscow's airports will resume operations once Russia's federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia, lifts the restrictions. But the recurring pattern — capital airspace disrupted multiple times a month by drones that two years ago could not reach it — points to a structural shift rather than an isolated incident.

Russian operators now price each shutdown into their schedules, and foreign carriers continue to weigh the cost of serving routes that may close without notice against the revenue of a market with limited remaining alternatives.