Ukrainian drones are on the way. Murmansk again closes airspace

The regional airports of Murmansk and Kirovsk were Thursday morning closed and flights heading towards the Kola Peninsula redirected. A liner that was on its way from St.Petersburg to Murmansk suddenly changed course as it approached the White Sea and a long-distance flight between New Delhi and Chicago flew south of the peninsula and turned sharply north as it approached Finnish and Norwegian airspace.

The airspace over the Kola Peninsula was closed in the morning of the 12th of September and flights were redirected. Screenshot of Flightradar24

According to sources in the region, several drones have been spotted over the peninsula.

News site Mash reports that two drones have been shot down about 7 km from the Olenya airbase. Mash is known for its Kremlin-loyal approach and propaganda stories.

According to Violetta Grudina, the Murmansk activist and politician that now lives in exile, there were at least three drones on their way towards the Kola Peninsula.

The actual number of UAVs attacking the strategically important Russian region is unclear. It is also not clear whether any of the drones actually have hit their targets.

The Olenya airbase houses many of the strategic bombers that regularly attack Ukrainian cities, towns and civilian infrastructure.

It is the second or third day in a row with Ukrainian drone attacks on the Kola Peninsula. Also in late August, Ukrainian drones attacked Olenya. In late July, a UAV managed to make it all the way to the base where it reportedly damaged a strategic bomber Tu-22.

This week’s drone attacks come as the Russian Armed Forces hold a major exercise. The Ocean-24 includes a big number of ships, aircraft and navy sailors from the Northern Fleet. Included in the exercise are also strategic bombers based in Olenya.