Ukrainian drone alert disrupts Russian government flights returning from Putin’s Turkmenistan trip

Several aircraft from Russia’s Rossiya Special Flight Detachment, which transports the country’s leaders and senior officials, circled over Moscow on the evening of October 9 because of the threat of a Ukrainian drone attack.Five of the detachment’s aircraft were unable to land immediately. At least three were returning from Turkmenistan, where Russian President Vladimir Putin had attended a Commonwealth of Independent States summit, several Russian news outlets and Telegram channels reported (1, 2, 3). All three were Il-96s, the type used to transport the president, Agentstvo reported.According to Flightradar24, two Il-96s with registration numbers RA-96020 and RA-96022 circled over Moscow and the surrounding region. They departed Turkmenbashi Airport at 2 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. and landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport at 6:06 p.m. and 6:21 p.m., respectively.A third Il-96, with registration number RA-96025, departed Turkmenbashi at 3:52 p.m. and flew over Moscow even though it was scheduled to land at Vnukovo. It was eventually diverted to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport and later departed for Moscow.Restrictions were imposed at all Moscow airports around 3:40 p.m. and fully lifted by 6:40 p.m. According to estimates from Ostorozhno, Novosti, more than 200 flights were delayed and more than 100 canceled amid the restrictions.It is unclear which aircraft Putin was aboard. At 1:52 p.m., TASS reported that the president had ended his visit to Turkmenistan and boarded one of the Rossiya detachment’s aircraft, which was preparing to depart Turkmenbashi. Agentstvo suggested that Putin may have been aboard RA-96025. He had flown to Turkmenistan on that aircraft on October 8.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had threatened to “close the skies” over Russia in early September. Putin called the statement “a signal of intent to commit state terrorism.” In response to Ukraine’s threats, Russia’s Transport Ministry said the country’s aviation services would prevent “significant disruptions” to civil aviation.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.