We can't go on like this' Ukrainian drones play havoc with Muscovites' travel plans

Early in the morning on Monday last week, Vladimir Shevchuk, 38, his wife, and their two children arrived at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, suitcases full of beachwear and ready to fly to the Turkish beach destination Antalya for a long-planned summer break.

- Pjotr Sauer

Like tens of thousands of Muscovites, the Shevchuks were hoping to escape the city's heat for their summer holidays, until an announcement rang out across the terminal: all flights suspended.

They spent the day - and night sleeping on the airport's concrete floor, waiting for updates. It wasn't until the next morning that they were told their flight had been rescheduled for later in the week.

"We saved up for this trip for a year," Shevchuk said. "Our hotel and car rental can't be reimbursed, and we simply can't reschedule." Tens of thousands of passengers like Shevchuk have had their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt airspace over Russia's capital.

What began as isolated interruptions have evolved into a systematic Ukrainian campaign, aimed at bringing the war home to ordinary Russians - many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens.

Their inconvenience is trivial compared with the daily reality faced by Ukrainian civilians, who live under the constant threat of deadly missile and drone attacks.

But for many Russians - who have largely remained insulated from the direct impacts of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - this may be the most tangible sign yet that the conflict has begun to intrude on their everyday lives.