Flights at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport were halted for over two hours Saturday morning following a drone attack, officials said.
Air traffic was suspended from 7:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Moscow time, according to Rosaviatsia spokesperson Artyom Korenyako, who shared the update on the Telegram messaging platform.
The disruption came as Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed a record four drones over the Leningrad region overnight, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said. No injuries or damage were reported in the incident.
During the flight suspension, 20 planes destined for Pulkovo were diverted to alternative airports, Korenyako added.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that a total of 16 drones were shot down overnight across multiple regions, including Leningrad, Bryansk, Smolensk, Belgorod, and Pskov.
While regions along Russia’s border with Ukraine have faced frequent drone strikes since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, has largely been spared.
The city recorded its first drone attack in January 2024. In March 2024, authorities implemented heightened security measures after a drone crashed into a residential building, causing an explosion.
