Early in the morning on Monday last week, Vladimir Shevchuk, 38, his wife, and their two children arrived at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, suitcases full of beachwear and ready to fly to the Turkish beach destination Antalya for a long-planned summer break. Like tens of thousands of Muscovites, the Shevchuks were hoping to escape the city\u2019s heat for their summer holidays, until an announcement rang out across the terminal: all flights suspended.<\/p>\n
They spent the day \u2013 and night \u2013 sleeping on the airport\u2019s concrete floor, waiting for updates. It wasn\u2019t until the next morning that they were told their flight had been rescheduled for later in the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saved up for this trip for a year,\u201d Shevchuk said. \u201cOur hotel and car rental can\u2019t be reimbursed, and we simply can\u2019t reschedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of passengers like Shevchuk have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt airspace over Russia\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
Frustrated would-be passengers have been left stranded at Moscow\u2019s Sheremetyevo airport. Photograph: Reuters<\/p>\n
What began as isolated interruptions have evolved into a systematic Ukrainian campaign, aimed at bringing the war home to ordinary Russians \u2013 many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens.<\/p>\n
Their inconvenience is trivial compared with the daily reality faced by Ukrainian civilians, who live under the constant threat of deadly missile and drone attacks. But for many Russians \u2013 who have largely remained insulated from the direct impacts of Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022<\/a> \u2013 this may be the most tangible sign yet that the conflict has begun to intrude on their everyday lives.<\/p>\n While few Ukrainian drones make it through the heavily fortified air defences around Moscow, their relative cheapness compared with the chaos they cause makes them an efficient means of targeting Russia\u2019s sense of stability.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, has long abandoned efforts to persuade ordinary Russians to oppose the war. Instead, Kyiv\u2019s strategy seems focused on making the cost of continued aggression impossible to ignore \u2013 not just because of the coffins returning from the frontline, but through growing disruptions to daily life.<\/p>\n Ukrainian officials have not yet formally commented on the tactic, but they have emphasised repeatedly that life in Russia should not remain comfortable for a population that, by and large, continues to support the war.<\/p>\n And the tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public \u2013 and a growing source of frustration.<\/p>\n Beyond the anecdotal stories of missed holidays and ruined business trips, there is a very real and mounting economic cost for Russia\u2019s aviation industry, already strained by western sanctions.<\/p>\n During the most severe wave of travel disruption to date, from 6-7 July, airlines across the country cancelled 485 flights and delayed about 1,900 more, according to Russia\u2019s federal air transport agency. More than 43,000 forced ticket refunds were issued, 94,000 passengers were placed in hotels, and more than 350,000 food and drink vouchers were handed out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just a headache. The drones completely disrupt our operations,\u201d said a senior manager at one of Moscow\u2019s main airports, speaking on condition of anonymity. \u201cWe can\u2019t go on like this forever,\u201d the manager added.<\/p>\n The plane chaos appears to have caught the attention of Russia\u2019s leadership. Earlier this month, Putin dismissed the country\u2019s transport minister without offering any official explanation. But the risks for Russia in keeping its skies open are stark.<\/p>\n In December last year, 38 people were killed when Russian air defences mistakenly shot down<\/a> an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan, during an attempt to intercept a Ukrainian drone targeting Grozny airport. The incident has triggered an unprecedented diplomatic rift with Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n Russian airports are preparing for the chaos to become a permanent feature. At Sheremetyevo, the country\u2019s busiest airport, staff were filmed last Tuesday handing out mattresses to stranded passengers.<\/p>\n Several major international carriers that continue to operate flights to Russia \u2013 including Turkish Airlines and Emirates \u2013 have reportedly begun adjusting their schedules to account for the increasingly frequent airspace shutdowns.<\/p>\n