Russia partially closes Moscow-area airspace in early June, citing Ukrainian drone attacks
Russia will ban civilian aircraft from flying below 5,100 meters in the Moscow air zone and several other regions beginning in early June 2026, the Interregional Public Organization of Pilots and Aircraft Owners (AOPA Russia) reported.
The restrictions cover flight routes from St. Petersburg and the border with Belarus to Yekaterinburg, Samara and southern regions.
Exemptions will be granted for scheduled and charter passenger flights, medical evacuation aircraft, aerial crop-dusting operations and flights conducted under state contracts.
Sergei Ryabchinsky, director of the Chkalov Higher Parachutist School of the Central Aero-Club, told Radio Liberty's Russian service that the new measures are linked to Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and other regions.
Aviation communities have also speculated that the restrictions may have been prompted by a light aircraft accident near Kolomna in March 2026. Russian media reported at the time that air defense forces may have mistakenly shot down a plane carrying aviation blogger Pavel Koshkin, having misidentified it as a Ukrainian drone. Official findings from that investigation have not yet been published.