Uzbekistan Airways Diverts Flights as Russia Faces Largest Drone Attack

Uzbekistan Airways diverted several flights bound for Moscow after Russian air defences intercepted over 300 drones in what authorities described as the largest drone attack since the start of the conflict with Ukraine. The attack, which took place overnight on March 11, targeted multiple Russian regions, including Moscow and its surrounding areas.

Flights rerouted due to drone activity

An Uzbekistan Airways flight from Tashkent to Moscow diverted to St Petersburg after Vnukovo Airport activated its «Carpet» defence protocol in response to the drone attack. The airline redirected three additional flights:

• Flight HY9607 from Bukhara to Moscow (Vnukovo) landed in Samara.
• Flight HY611 from Tashkent to Moscow (Vnukovo) diverted to Pulkovo (St Petersburg).
• Flight HY9615 from Urgench to Moscow (Vnukovo) also rerouted to Pulkovo.
• Flight HY603 from Tashkent to Moscow (Domodedovo) returned to Urgench.

Further adjustments to Uzbekistan Airways’ flight schedule are expected.

Drone attacks across Russia

Russian authorities reported that air defences intercepted and destroyed 337 Ukrainian drones. Moscow’s mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, stated that 74 drones were shot down over the capital, marking a record for a single attack. Debris from a drone damaged the roof of a residential building on Domodedovskaya Street, although officials have not reported casualties from this incident.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that the attacks affected Bryansk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Belgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Oryol, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow regions. In the Moscow region alone, air defences neutralised 91 drones.

Casualties and damage reported

Two people were killed in the Moscow region as a result of the attacks. In the Domodedovo urban district, a 38-year-old security guard died in a parking area in the village of Yam. A 50-year-old man, who was also injured at the same site, later died in hospital. The casualties, along with another injured individual, were employees of the Miratorg agricultural distribution centre, which suffered damage due to falling drone debris at 05:14.

In the village of Kotlyakovo, a 43-year-old woman sustained severe abdominal and chest injuries and remains in hospital in critical condition. Additionally, six more people, including a four-year-old child, were injured in the Leninsky urban district.

In Ramenskoye, drone debris struck a multi-storey residential building, damaging at least seven apartments between the 19th and 22nd floors. Twelve people, including three children, were evacuated. Another drone struck a private house in Sofyino, within the Vyosoky Bereg residential complex, igniting a fire that was later contained.

Transport disruptions

Due to the attacks, temporary restrictions were imposed on Moscow’s Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Vnukovo airports. According to RIA Novosti, ten flights bound for Moscow were diverted to Samara, three to Perm, and five to Saratov. Additionally, railway disruptions occurred after drone debris damaged tracks near Domodedovo station, causing some train cancellations and delays.