Putin's plane waited 3 hours to land in capital due to drone attack threat

An emergency security situation occurred in the skies over the Russian capital, Moscow. Returning from an international forum and events held in Turkmenistan, the Russian president's Vladimir Putin's special aircraft could not land in Moscow at the scheduled time due to the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

The presidential liner, belonging to the 'Rossiya' special flight detachment, was forced to circle in a holding pattern over the Moscow region for nearly 3 hours due to severe restrictions at the capital's airports.

3-hour delay: Dramatic moments in the sky

According to data from the global flight monitoring service Flightradar24, significant changes were recorded in the flight schedule:

• Unexpected interruption: The special flight 'RSD229' (an Il-96-300PU liner) that took off from Turkmenbashi was scheduled to land at Vnukovo International Airport at 17:08;

• Circles in the sky: Due to security threats over Moscow, the landing time was first pushed to 18:03 and then to 20:03. The plane spent more than five hours in the air in total, spending most of its time circling over the Moscow region (specifically near Shatura and Kolomna);

• Second plane also waiting: Another special government flight, 'RSD708', which is part of the presidential escort and operated by a Tu-204 aircraft, also remained in a safe holding zone for a long time.

“Kovyor” (Carpet) plan and mass restrictions at Moscow airports

The drone threat recorded in the capital's airspace affected the entire civil aviation system:

• Flights delayed: Temporary restrictions (the 'Kovyor' plan) were introduced at Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports to ensure flight safety;

• Planes diverted to other cities: Dozens of international and domestic passenger planes were diverted to reserve airfields (Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, and others) or held at departure gates.

Most tracked flight worldwide

The unusual situation involving the presidential plane instantly caught the attention of global media and internet users:

• Top 3 on Flightradar24: More than 5,000 users tracked the trajectory of Putin's aircraft and its accompanying special plane online in real-time;

• Global trend: In a short time, this flight became one of the three most tracked flights in the world.

Following coordinated efforts by security forces and air traffic control, the special flights landed safely at the capital's airport after 20:00.