Drone attacks have led to hours-long flight delays at Moscow airports following temporary closures.
The Chinese leader is set to arrive in Moscow on Wednesday for a four-day state visit, where he’ll deepen “mutual trust” with Putin, according to Beijing, and attend activities commemorating 80 years since the Allied forces’ World War II victory over Nazi Germany.
But Ukraine attacked Moscow with drones for a third day on Wednesday forcing most of the Russian capital’s airports to close just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to arrive to mark the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that Russian air defence units destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones from 10 p.m. on Tuesday (1900 GMT) until Wednesday morning.
Moscow’s key airports remained out of operation for most of the night, and Russian national carrier Aeroflot said it was reordering timetables to cope with the disruption.