Drone strikes hit the administrative building of Russia's Southern Air Navigation branch in Rostov-on-Don on the morning of 9 May 2025. Following the incident, civilian air traffic between Sochi and Astrakhan ceased.
Drone strikes hit the administrative building of Russia's Southern Air Navigation branch in Rostov-on-Don on the morning of 9 May 2025. Following the incident, civilian air traffic between Sochi and Astrakhan ceased.
Early on Friday, 9 May, drone strikes hit the administrative building of the Southern Russia Air Navigation branch in Rostov-on-Don. The Russian Ministry of Transport announced the strike via Telegram later that same day, noting that all personnel were safe and that authorities continued to assess the operability of equipment.
Immediately after the attack, air traffic control procedures across southern Russia were adjusted. Within hours of the Friday morning strikes, thirteen civilian airports in an arc from the Black Sea to the Caspian suspended operations.
To understand the significance, the Southern branch is one of seven regional centres that direct Russia's civil aviation traffic. Its airspace runs from Crimea east to the Caspian, the same airspace that has absorbed most of Russia's airborne civilian traffic since February 2022, following closures further north and west that pushed flights south.
As a result of the strike and ensuing ground response, the closures spanned roughly 2,500 km west to east, from Sochi on the Black Sea to Astrakhan on the Caspian, and about 600 km north to south.
The Ministry of Transport's announcement listed the affected airports: Astrakhan, Vladikavkaz, Volgograd, Gelendzhik, Grozny, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Magas, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Sochi, Stavropol, and Elista.
It is important to note that these closures were temporary. The ministry described the procedures as "adjusted," though it did not specify for how long.
These strikes took place during a declared ceasefire. On Monday, 6 May, Russia's Defence Ministry announced a two-day truce for 8–9 May to coincide with Victory Day. Later on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately declared that Kyiv would observe its own unilateral ceasefire starting midnight, Tuesday, 7 May — these were separate, not reciprocal agreements.
Throughout Friday, both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire. Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 850 drone strikes that day. Russia's Defence Ministry claimed there were 1,365 ceasefire violations. Neither figure has been independently verified, and each side uses different counting methods.
Russia's 9 May parade is a significant annual military event. Foreign delegations were present in Moscow as southern airports suspended operations; the same Telegram channels reporting the Rostov incident also covered the Moscow parade.
Thus, the truce was unilateral on both sides. There was no joint signature, no monitoring mechanism, and no agreed clock. Russia announced its own dates, while Ukraine announced its own start, with each side counting the other's violations based on its own ledger.
As a result of the strike and ensuing ground response, the closures spanned roughly 2,500 km west to east, from Sochi on the Black Sea to Astrakhan on the Caspian, and about 600 km north to south.
The Ministry of Transport's announcement listed the affected airports: Astrakhan, Vladikavkaz, Volgograd, Gelendzhik, Grozny, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Magas, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Sochi, Stavropol, and Elista.
It is important to note that these closures were temporary. The ministry described the procedures as "adjusted," though it did not specify for how long.