Ankara, Sep 20 (IANS) A Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Moscow returned to Istanbul on Sunday after approaching the Russian capital amid a major Ukrainian drone attack, according to flight-tracking data and Turkish media reports.
Turkish Airlines flight TK407, operated by an Airbus A330-300, departed Istanbul at 2:22 a.m. local time Sunday (2322 GMT Saturday) for Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. After entering Russian airspace and approaching Moscow, the aircraft turned back and later landed in Istanbul.
The disruptions also affected other flights between Turkey and Russia. At least 35 Turkish-operated flights to and from Vnukovo were delayed or cancelled, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The disruptions came amid a major overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and other parts of Russia.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defences had intercepted more than 1,600 drones across the country since Saturday, including about 450 approaching Moscow.
Russian forces conducted two massive and five group strikes against Ukrainian defence plants, logistics hubs, energy and transport infrastructure and seized ten settlements in a week, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday.
Among the hit targets were defence, metallurgical, motor and electronic enterprises, military logistics and distribution centres, fuel-power, railway and road infrastructure facilities, drone manufacturing workshops and storage facilities, ammunition and fuel depots, ports, as well as temporary deployment areas for Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries.
Regarding sea targets, the ministry added that 12 Ukrainian dry cargo ships, two sea ferries, one tanker and one tugboat were hit.
Over the week, Russian air defence systems shot down 44 guided aerial bombs, eight HIMARS rockets, two Neptune long-range guided missiles and 5,706 Ukrainian drones.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia would consider the deployment of Western troops on Ukrainian territory a declaration of direct war.
“Let me emphasise that we have no interest in getting involved in this, but if Europe, which talks every day about preparing for war against Russia, attacks the Russian Federation, that will be a completely different war, and it will be very short,” he said at the International Festival of Youth in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday.
Lavrov added that Moscow remains ready for a diplomatic settlement, including in the trilateral format that the United States proposed again. He noted, however, that Russia’s position on a settlement to the conflict still implies fulfilling the objectives set at the outset and eliminating the root causes.
–IANS
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