Sochi Airport Suspends Operations Amid Drone Threat

Rosaviatsiya temporarily closed Sochi Airport to aircraft due to a security threat, and a drone attack alert was issued throughout the Krasnodar Krai.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel," residents and tourists in Sochi, Gelendzhik, and the Tuapse district were ordered to leave beaches and embankments on the afternoon of September 24 due to the threat of drone attacks from the sea and air. In Sochi, some vacationers returned to the sea, despite the drone attack alert remaining. Social media users called this behavior reckless. Access to Sochi beaches is closed until midday on September 25. Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin explained that emergency services must "complete nighttime monitoring and thoroughly inspect the waters again in daylight" for the safety of vacationers.

Sochi Airport has temporarily suspended operations due to a flight safety threat, and temporary restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures have been introduced, Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) spokesman Artem Korenyako reported at 1:55 a.m. Moscow time.

According to the Sochi Airport online flight information board, flights from Moscow, Kazan, Yerevan, Batumi, and Tel Aviv have been delayed. Flights to Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Tyumen, Nizhnevartovsk, and Batumi are also delayed.

The Krasnodar Krai Emergency Alert Center issued a UAV threat alert throughout the region at 10:26 p.m. Moscow time on September 24, according to 93.ru.

During the day of September 24, Sochi Airport also briefly suspended operations – the restrictions were in effect from 4:21 p.m. Moscow time to 5:05 p.m. Another Kuban airport, Gelendzhik, was closed for seven hours during the day, from 10:26 a.m. Moscow time to 5:34 p.m. "During the period of restrictions, four planes flying to Gelendzhik diverted to alternate airfields," Korenyako wrote on his Telegram channel.

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