Airplane from Putin's delegation could not land in Moscow due to drone attack

The airplane of the special flight detachment "Rossiya", which serves Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials, was unable to land in Moscow on October 9 after returning from Turkmenistan. Due to large-scale flight restrictions in the Russian capital, the aircraft was redirected to St. Petersburg.

This was reported by the Russian independent outlet "Agentstvo" citing flight tracking data. Information about problems with the landing of presidential planes was also published by "Important Stories".

According to journalists, after the end of Putin's visit to Turkmenistan, several planes of the special flight detachment "Rossiya" departed from Turkmenbashi airport. Three of them were heading to Moscow.

However, at that time, restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were in effect in the Russian capital due to the threat of drone attacks. As a result, government planes were forced to perform additional maneuvers and wait for permission to land.

Two presidential planes eventually managed to land at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The third aircraft, also coming from Turkmenistan, was unable to land and was directed to Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg.

These are Il-96-300PU aircraft, which are used to transport Russian leadership and are equipped with special communication and control systems.

Meanwhile, it is not known for certain which plane Vladimir Putin was on board. The Kremlin has not disclosed this information, so it cannot yet be asserted that the Russian president was redirected to St. Petersburg.

In addition, landing problems arose for several other planes of the special flight detachment located in the Moscow area.

The cause of the large-scale disruptions was the threat of drone attacks on the Russian capital. During October 9, restrictions were introduced at all four main airports of the Moscow aviation hub — Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky.

Russian authorities reported on the operation of air defense and the detection of drones heading towards Moscow. Local Telegram channels also published reports of explosions and air defense activity in various districts of the capital.

According to Russian media, the restrictions affected hundreds of flights. Passenger planes were delayed, some flights were canceled, and aircraft heading to Moscow were diverted to alternate airfields.

Russia's Rosaviatsiya explained the measures taken by the need to ensure flight safety. Later, restrictions at Sheremetyevo were lifted, but Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky continued to serve flights in coordination with relevant authorities.

Vladimir Putin was on a working visit to Turkmenistan on October 8–9, where he took part in the CIS heads of state summit and the Caspian environmental summit. He also held talks with the leadership of Turkmenistan and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

After the events, Russian state media reported that Putin boarded a plane of the special flight detachment "Rossiya", which was to take him to Moscow.

There are no official Kremlin statements at the time of publication about whether the airspace restrictions affected Putin's own route.

Sources: Agentstvo, Important Stories / Inshe TV, NV, iDNES.