Russia had to shut its airports 993 times in August, as Ukrainian drones scrambled its skies. It was the worst month for Russian civil aviation since the full-scale war began in 2022, with restrictions affecting 32 airports, including those serving Moscow and St. Petersburg, Euronews reported, citing the aviation security firm Osprey.

Ukraine is closing Russia's skies without firing at a single airliner. The summer brought 2,182 temporary shutdowns, more than Russia logged in all of 2025. August alone ran more than six times the 2025 monthly average, by the investigative outlet The Insider's count.

The fallout from Ukrainian attacks is economic: passenger traffic between Moscow and St. Petersburg has dropped by 20 to 23 percent, while rail demand has risen by about a fifth as travelers give up on flying.

The "Carpet" protocol grounds the planes

The closures are triggered by Russia's own defense response to Ukrainian attacks. When a drone is detected near an airport, Russia activates a protocol it calls "Kover", or "Carpet", an emergency procedure that grounds or reroutes every civil aircraft in the area. Ukraine has leaned into that reflex.

FlightRadar24 recorded an average of 86 flights canceled per day in the first three days of September, and on the worst nights around Moscow, between 77 and more than 100 flights were delayed or scrapped.

The disruption drains the economy

The point is exhaustion. Airport closures sit alongside rising insurance premiums, foreign carriers pulling out, and shrinking domestic mobility, said Mykhailo Samus of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies.

"Airport closures are the new reality for Russian aviation," he said.

Foreign airlines have begun diverting: Turkiye's Pegasus and the UAE's Flydubai both turned Moscow-bound flights back in early September.

Zelenskyy warns airlines and insurers

Zelenskyy made the strategy explicit on 1 September, warning airlines and insurers that Russian skies were no longer safe.

"We in Ukraine do not want innocent lives to be lost. The days of safety in Russia's skies are over," he said.