Ukrainian long-range drone strikes targeting Russian territory, including approaches to Moscow, have driven repeated temporary suspensions of air traffic at the capital’s four main airports through activation of the “Carpet” contingency plan. In early September 2026, all four hubs—Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky—faced multiple nights of arrival and departure restrictions amid drone alerts, producing dozens of cancellations and hundreds of delays according to flight-tracking data. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s September 1 warning that Russian airspace was becoming unsafe for civil aviation, followed by Kyiv’s formal notification to the ICAO, coincided with intensified disruptions. Russian authorities attribute the measures to air-defense responses against incoming UAVs, while similar incidents occurred in June and May amid the broader conflict. These security-driven halts remain the dominant factor shaping trader assessments of suspension causes.