‘Unspecified security concerns’: Moscow mysteriously shuts its airports

Russia’s aviation watchdog announced the sudden closure of all four Moscow airports due to ‘unspecified security concerns’.

All four of Moscow’s airports, plus a fifth in a city 160km southwest of the Russian capital, mysteriously closed on Thursday with Russian authorities citing unspecified safety concerns.

A statement put out by the Russian aviation watchdog, Rosaviatsia, confirmed that Moscow’s airports were “temporarily not accepting or sending flights”.

“To ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights, temporary restrictions have been introduced on the operation of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Kaluga airports,” Rosaviatsia said in a post on Telegram.

“Aircraft crews, air traffic controllers and airport services take all necessary measures to ensure flight safety — this is the top priority.”

All four of Moscow’s airports were mysteriously closed on Thursday, with officials citing unspecified security concerns. Picture: iStock

Despite the aviation agency refusing to provide detail on the cause of the security concerns, all four of Moscow’s airports were reopened after the temporary closure, with the fifth in Kaluga reopening later on Thursday afternoon.

The closures occurred as Russian forces shot down two Ukrainian missiles in the Kursk region, southwest of the capital. Officials reported two missiles were intercepted while the airports were shut with no damage or casualties, while a third was shot down following the reopening of Moscow’s airports.

The capital’s airports have previously been closed due to Ukrainian drone strikes. In November of this year, almost two years after President Vladimir Putin first invaded their smaller neighbour, Ukraine launched the largest drone attack on Moscow since the outbreak of the war.

The airport closures were announced on the same day as the Kremlin implored that “no-one should … put forward hypotheses” prior to the conclusion of the investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8342 that crashed upon landing in Kazakhstan.

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed from Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya province. Picture: Issa Tazhenbayev / AFP

The Kremlin’s warnings against speculation were issued despite Russia itself hypothesising that a bird strike may have caused the crash shortly after the incident.

Russian air defense operators are under increased scrutiny as Azerbaijani officials point the finger at Russian missiles as the cause of the Christmas Day crash. 38 of the 67 passengers on-board flight 8342 were killed.

In an interview with NBC, Chief Intelligence Officer at Osprey Flight Solutions Matthew Borie, speculated that indeed Russian air defences may have been behind the crash, as the plane approached its destination in Grozny.

“Subsequent reporting and contextual information, including the follow-on video examination of the wreckage,” indicated that “the flight was likely shot down by a Russian air defense system,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Unspecified security concerns’: Moscow mysteriously shuts its airports