Dozens of flights delayed at Sochi airport due to drone attack

17 planes diverted to alternate airfields during the drone alert regime in Sochi, and another 25 flights were delayed. The Defense Ministry reported nine drones shot down over the territory of Krasnodar Krai and Adygea.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, this afternoon the authorities of Krasnodar Krai issued an appeal to residents and visitors of Sochi asking them to leave the beaches due to the drone alert. The evacuation of vacationers from the beaches was carried out under the sounds of an air raid siren.

Restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft at the Sochi airport were introduced this afternoon for two and a half hours. The introduction of restrictions "to ensure flight safety" was announced today at 13:08 Moscow time by Rosaviatsia representative Artem Korenyako in his Telegram channel.

At 15:30 Moscow time, Korenyako reported that the restrictions at the Sochi airport had been lifted. “During the period of restrictions, 17 aircraft operating flights to Sochi “left” for alternate airfields,” he wrote.

25 flights are delayed at the Sochi airport after restrictions due to UAV attacks, TASS reported at 17:10 Moscow time, citing the airport’s press service. Temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were also introduced this afternoon at the Gelendzhik airport, Interfax-Yug reports.

A total of 56 flights have been rescheduled since the drone threat was declared, the Telegram channel “ChP Sochi” reported, without specifying how many of them were intended for departure and how many for arrival. The channel published a screenshot of air radar data, from which it follows that “planes are circling over Sochi waiting to land.” “The departure from 15.45 was postponed to 20.00, in the end I just returned the ticket, I hope I will fly more calmly tomorrow,” user Arnold_Andreevich wrote under this publication.

The spring-summer schedule of Sochi airport includes flights to 57 domestic and 28 international destinations. According to the airport's online board, flights to Tbilisi, Antalya, Dubai, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk have been delayed, in particular.

From 12:00 to 15:00 Moscow time, eight Ukrainian drones were destroyed and intercepted by air defense systems over the territory of Krasnodar Krai, and another one was intercepted over the territory of Adygea, the official channel of the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

At 16:01 Moscow time, Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin reported that the threat of a UAV attack in the city had been cancelled. According to him, there are no casualties or damage in Sochi.

During the unmanned danger regime, the work of the Psou checkpoint on the border of Abkhazia and Russia was stopped. The State Security Service of Abkhazia reported the temporary closure of the checkpoint at about 13:40 Moscow time. At 16:46 Moscow time, the agency issued a message that the restrictions had been lifted. All this time, tourists remained at the checkpoint, waiting to be allowed through.

During the attack in Sochi, mobile Internet was disconnected, local resident Murad Sultanov reported. "I heard straight from the office that people were being asked to leave the beaches. There is no mobile Internet throughout the city, and there is not electricity everywhere. Sirens are constantly working from early morning and announcements are constantly being made. (...) Naturally, people are scared, but in general, some people there live a normal life,” BFM-Kuban quotes him as saying.

Due to the drone attack, some Sochi residents are renting out or reselling tickets for the rapper Akon concert, which is scheduled for Sochi this evening, at a third of the price, although the organizers assure that the concert will take place without problems, writes the SHOT Telegram channel.

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