At least 60,000 air passengers have been stranded across Russia following a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack, according to Russian officials.
Russia’s Association of Tour Operators (Ator) reported that around 350 flights were affected since Tuesday night in cities including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, and others. Three major airports serving Moscow—Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Domodedovo—experienced major disruptions, with 110 flights canceled in the capital alone. In St. Petersburg, 55 flights were either canceled or delayed, and footage from Pulkovo Airport showed planes lined up on the runway with passengers reportedly waiting for hours.
Airports in several other cities, including Sochi, Kazan, Kirov, and Nizhnekamsk, also reported disruptions.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that 524 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed in the past 24 hours—a record number if verified. No casualties have been reported in Russia. However, Ukraine reported that a Russian missile and drone strike killed two people, a woman and her son, in Kyiv overnight.
These attacks occurred just hours before a Russian-declared three-day ceasefire was due to begin at midnight Wednesday, ahead of the Victory Day parade on May 9. Kyiv dismissed the ceasefire announcement as a “theatrical play” and reiterated its call for an unconditional 30-day truce—supported by Ukraine’s Western allies.
Russia has proposed strict conditions for any peace negotiations, which Ukrainian and European leaders have criticized as an attempt to prolong the war and force Ukraine to surrender.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that Moscow’s demands were excessive. “We think they are asking for too much,” he stated, adding that both sides need to begin serious talks. Vance also took a more cooperative tone toward Europe than in previous months, saying, “The U.S. and Europe are still on the same team.”
Meanwhile, international travel was also affected. A plane carrying Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had to make an emergency landing in Baku, Azerbaijan, due to the drone attacks, before eventually continuing to Moscow. Vučić and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico—one of the few EU leaders expected to attend the parade—both faced airspace denials from Baltic states. Estonia explicitly opposed participating in what it called “Russian propaganda events.”
Russia claims 27 world leaders are attending the Moscow celebrations. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro have already arrived. Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Moscow as well, with China sending 102 troops—the largest foreign military contingent—for the May 9 parade, which marks the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II.
Victory Day is Russia’s most significant national holiday. President Vladimir Putin often draws comparisons between the Soviet victory in World War II and his current war in Ukraine—a claim firmly rejected by Kyiv and the West. Ukraine’s foreign ministry called the Russian commemorations a distortion of history, stating, “These people are not liberators—they are occupiers and war criminals.”
Ukraine has warned foreign leaders against attending the parade in Moscow, saying it cannot guarantee anyone’s safety on Russian soil. President Zelensky has also warned that the Kremlin could stage provocations to frame Ukraine during the celebrations.