Ukraine drones attacked Moscow for the third consecutive day, forcing the closure of most airports in the Russian capital. Several flights have been canceled, including to other places like St. Petersburg.
The Senior Analyst of Internacional da CNN, Américo Martins, was on his way to Moscow, but had a connection in Baku, Azerbaijan, canceled after the attacks. It is not possible to make a direct flight from West countries to Russia, needing to do these scales.
Américo reported that the flight was scheduled for the morning of Wednesday (7), and was postponed several times until it was effectively canceled. The forecast of the airline is that the operations can be resumed at 9:30 pm, local time (2:30 pm Brasília).
At least five flights were canceled from Baku to Moscow and one to St. Petersburg. After a few hours, new flights were programmed to other places in Russia, indicating that airspace was opened in these aerials.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) is also on his way to Moscow. There was no information on possible change of route or postponement on the arrival of the petista.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense units destroyed at least 14 Ukrainian drones from 10 pm on Tuesday (6) until the morning of Wednesday (7).
Moscow’s top airports remained out of operation for most of the night, and Russian airflot reported that it was reorganizing flight schedules to deal with the interruption.
Attack before a large parade in Russia
The Ukrainian offensive takes place amid preparation for a large military parade in Russia who should be attended by world leaders, including China President Xi Jinping. In all, 29 world leaders must attend.
North Korea will send an Ambassador to Moscow, and India, Nicaragua and South Africa will be represented by high level delegations, according to Kremlin.
Victory Day is the most significant in the calendar of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long used it to raise public support and demonstrate the country’s military capacity.
Thousands of people are expected on the streets of Moscow Red Square on Friday (9), in a demonstration of patriotism that marks the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany and honors more than 25 million soldiers and Soviet civilians who died during World War II.
Troops from 13 countries will participate in the parade, Russia’s presidential advisory said. The parade will be attended by units of Azerbaijan, Vietnam, China and Egypt, among others, said Ushakov, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novii.
Ukraine criticizes celebration
Ukraine has asked international allies not to send troops to Russia’s victory day celebrations in Moscow, warning that participation would equivalent to “co-responsibility for the blood of Ukrainian children, civilians and military”.
“The participation of foreign military in this event is unacceptable and will be considered by Ukraine as a desecration of the memory of victory over Nazism,” said the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
*With information from Reuters
This content was originally published in Ukraine attack against Moscow closes airports and cancels flights on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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