Volgograd Airport closed amid drone threat

Rosaviatsiya has imposed restrictions at Volgograd Airport, and a drone alert is in effect in the region. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported two drones shot down in the Volgograd Region.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," restrictions on flight arrivals and departures were imposed on the night of November 2 at airports in Volgograd, Gelendzhik, Sochi, and Krasnodar. These restrictions were lifted in the morning.

Volgograd Airport is temporarily not accepting or sending aircraft, according to Rosaviatsiya spokesman Artem Korenyako. "The restrictions are necessary to ensure flight safety," Korenyako wrote on his Telegram channel at 10:19 PM Moscow time on November 5.

Almost simultaneously, at around 10:20 p.m. Moscow time, the Russian Emergency Situations System issued a warning about the threat of drone attacks, according to the Volgograd News Telegram channel.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, reported that between 5:00 p.m. Moscow time and midnight, two Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were intercepted and destroyed over the Volgograd Region. During the same period, three drones were shot down in the Rostov Region, and one over Kuban, according to a statement from the ministry's official channel.

According to the Volgograd Airport online board, a flight to Dubai was delayed after the "Carpet" plan was put into effect. Flights from Astrakhan and Antalya are also delayed, as is the return flight from Volgograd to Antalya.

On October 15, Telegram users noted that nighttime flight restrictions over Volgograd are being introduced as a "tradition" and practically "on schedule." Drone attack threat alerts in the Volgograd region have become daily, but they cannot always be relied upon. The actual appearance of UAVs over the region is not always preceded by a warning, local residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" stated.

Discussions about renaming Volgograd Airport "Stalingrad" have been active since the 1990s. However, the airport was renamed from "Gumrak" to "Stalingrad" only after Putin's intervention. On April 29, 2025, he announced his support for the initiative of the veterans and participants of the Second World War, signing a decree on the renaming that same day. However, some citizens strongly opposed the renaming, recalling that under Stalin, 250,000 Stalingrad residents were repressed.

At a meeting with Duma faction leaders on September 18, Putin promised to consider Communist Party leader Zyuganov's proposal to rename Volgograd to Stalingrad. Social media users expressed dissatisfaction with the new discussion of this topic.