Drones and restrictions on May 9: chaos at Russian airports, passengers left without food, water and sleeping in terminals
8 May 19:40
ANALYSIS FROM 
On the evening of May 7, Russian authorities announced that their cities had been under drone attacks for 45 hours. Because of this, a special security regime called “Carpet” was introduced at airports, which led to large-scale flight delays.
Some passengers were forced to wait more than 33 hours for their flight.
This was reported by the Russian media.
Russian airports are virtually paralyzed
Thus, 10 flights were canceled at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, and 12 flights were delayed at Vnukovo. Both domestic routes and international flights to Belarus, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Turkey were affected, with 12 flights canceled.
Passengers with children are forced to spend the night in the terminals, complaining about the complete lack of information, accommodation and proper food. People can’t take it anymore – many are crying or quarreling with airline employees.
The most difficult situation was faced by passengers on the Moscow-Saratov flight of Pobeda Airlines at Vnukovo. They were supposed to take off on May 6, but after a day of waiting, having already boarded the bus to the plane, they were turned back just before boarding.
They also had to stand in a 60-meter-long line to exchange their tickets for May 7, but even then they were unable to fly.
The airlines were mostly unable to offer any solutions – some did not provide passengers with food or water at all. Others issued food vouchers, but the food in airport cafes quickly ran out.
According to Rosaviatsia, out of 186 planes that were forced to land at backup airfields on May 6-7, 165 have already continued their routes. The schedule is expected to return to normal by the evening of May 8.
Not just airports
In addition, the mobile Internet in Russia is “dead”; restaurants, shops, and banks in the parade venues are sealed; the subway is closed, food delivery is not working; taxi service is limited: it is almost impossible to call a car.
Kommersant Ukrainian analyzed in detail why Putin is in such a panic, and whether the parade on Red Square could really be disrupted by an attack by unknown drones.
Russia is preparing a bloody provocation: the threat of hysteria and falsifications
Political scientist and military analyst Dmytro Snegiryov said exclusively for KU that Russia may organize a provocation with massive civilian casualties to discredit Ukraine. According to him, this is an artificial panic.
The co-chair of the civil society initiative “Right Cause” says that the situation with massive information injections by the Russian Federation indicates the preparation of a large-scale disinformation campaign.
It is about artificial panic. Hysteria is being stirred up. My main concern here is that a bloody provocation is being prepared by the Russian special services to accuse Ukraine of violating the rules of war,” said Snegiryov.
The analyst warns of possible drone attacks on civilian concentrations in Russia, which could be staged by the Russian special services themselves.
“I do not rule out the possibility of UAV attacks on civilian areas with a picture of mass casualties among Russians. It looks like a classic information cover for a future provocation,” he explained.
“Oreshnyk” and the cover of provocations
The expert draws special attention to the information about Russia’s new hypersonic missile Oreshnik, which could have been deliberately made to justify further actions.
It is no coincidence that a day later, Russia announced the possible use of the Oreshnik missile against Kyiv. This is a legend, i.e., information in advance, which can later be used to justify its own provocations,” Snegiryov said.
“Putin is preparing an information maneuver”
According to the expert, the Kremlin can use the provocation to accuse Ukraine of violating the unilateral “truce” and influence Western opinion.
“The Russian dictator will then say: you see, even despite the three-day ceasefire, the Ukrainian side struck. Although this ceasefire is unilateral, declared by Russia,” he emphasizes.
The analyst emphasizes the importance of proactive information work by the Ukrainian media and is convinced that we must act proactively to warn both the Russian side and the international community about possible bloody scenarios. This is a matter of national security.
