A Ukrainian drone has attacked an airport inside Russia.
In total, 13 flights were delayed and one cancelled at Sochi International Airport on the Black Sea coast, in the wake of the attack.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defences over Krasnodar Krai region.
An unidentified drone flew into Sochi International Airport, (AER/URSS) area in russia ; airport faced delays for 14 departures, with one flight canceled.
Reports indicate explosions and a column of smoke at the impact site near the Airport.#airport #drone pic.twitter.com/A1cQZ5P3QC
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) October 1, 2023
Russian state media organisation, Tass, reported that at about 8.00am Moscow time (6am GMT) on Sunday (October 1) a bid by Ukraine to carry out “a terrorist attack” against facilities inside Russia using a fixed-wing drone “was foiled”.
It quoted Russia’s Defence Ministry as stating: “The Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed over the territory of the Krasnodar Region by duty air defence systems.”
The moment of a drone explosion in the Krasnodar region.
According to the head of Sochi, Alexei Kopaygorodsky, air defense systems on duty destroyed the UAV at about 8 am. A temporary flight restriction was introduced at Sochi Airport; the airport is now operating normally. pic.twitter.com/7BI9lftg9H
— M e d i a s e t S (@Mediasets0) October 1, 2023
The Sochi flight hub is among the 10 largest airports in Russia with an annual passenger turnover in 2016 of 5.2 million, according to TASS.