Moscow’s air defences destroyed another 10 drones late on Tuesday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, taking the count shot down on approach to the capital to 63 for the day, according to Interfax, with emergency services working where debris fell. Sheremetyevo airport operated under temporary restrictions that were lifted the same evening, with some flights held for up to two and a half hours, and TASS reported more than 30 aircraft bound for Moscow were diverted to other cities, including St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. Neither account reported casualties or damage, and Ukraine has not commented in the reports read.
Drone wave on Moscow diverts flights and restricts airport
The count of drones shot down on approach to Moscow rose to 63 on Tuesday after Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported another 10 destroyed late in the day, in a wave that briefly restricted Sheremetyevo airport and diverted more than 30 inbound aircraft to other cities.
Why it matters: A drone wave large enough to close Moscow airspace and scatter its inbound flights across Russia is a direct hit on the capital's sense of distance from the war, whatever the physical damage on the ground.
Data as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026, updated late Tuesday, via Interfax and TASS, in Russian; both Interfax reports read in full. All figures are Russian official accounts relayed by state and state-aligned wires: the 63 total is Mayor Sobyanin's running count as reported by Interfax late Tuesday, superseding its earlier 53 figure, and no Ukrainian comment or independent corroboration appears in the reports read. No casualties or damage were reported in the Interfax accounts. Developing item, 2 to 3 sentences by design.
Sources
- Drone count on approach to Moscow rises to 63 · Interfax, in Russian · 2026-10-13
- Drone count on approach to Moscow rises to 53 over two days · Interfax, in Russian · 2026-10-13
- More than 30 aircraft bound for Moscow diverted to other cities · TASS, in Russian · 2026-10-13