Main points
- The transport collapse in Russia has led to the cancellation and delay of thousands of flights, causing significant economic damage.
- The collapse is due to restrictions due to the threat of drone attacks, which indicates the vulnerability of Russian aviation infrastructure.
In Russia, a transport collapse has been ongoing since July 5, due to which thousands of passengers are stuck in airports. Several hundred flights have already been cancelled, and almost 2 thousand have been delayed.
Political scientist and head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies Igor Chalenko told Channel 24 what large-scale consequences Russia will feel because of this global problem. It is also known that the collapse at Russian airports occurred due to the introduction of restrictions when a threat of a UAV attack arose.
A very painful blow
Chalenko noted that as a result of the suspension of air traffic in Russia, the country's economy will suffer huge losses.
We are not even talking about millions, but billions. This has a cumulative impact on the economy as a whole, because logistics is an important part of it, everything is tied to it, – explained the head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies.
Considering that Russia's territory is elongated, it is the largest country in the world by area, then without air communication Russians a priori cannot exist. Therefore, this is a very painful blow for it.
Ukraine has tested the weakness of the Russians when it carried out previous special operations. Now this needs to be scaled up. In addition, the Russians have no real recipe for defending themselves from drone attacks, the political scientist emphasized.
The only thing Russia does in response to attacks is to implement the “Carpet” plan. This means that all aircraft either remain parked, or fly to alternate airfields, or hundreds of flights are cancelled.
All this has economic consequences. If low-cost flights are cancelled, this leads to large-scale losses and threatens the closure of airlines in general, he said.
At the same time, the targets of Ukrainian drone attacks are military facilities, and the collapse at Russian airports is a secondary effect.
This is an opportunity to remind Russians that the war is also taking place on the territory of Russia itself. And all of this is a consequence of the policy of dictator Vladimir Putin, Igor Chalenko emphasized.
However, in Russia, according to the political scientist, there are no protests due to this situation yet. If scandals arise, they are connected with representatives of the aviation industry, governors. They are trying to channel the problem at the lowest level, but it is clear that the responsibility for this situation lies with the top management.
Let us recall that at Russian airports, in particular at Sheremetyevo in Moscow and Pulkovo in St. Petersburg, 485 flights were cancelled from July 5 to 7, and 1,900 were delayed. There are problems in the operation of airports in Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kaliningrad.
There is a crush in the airports themselves, thousands of exhausted people are forced to sit and lie down for a long time to wait for their flights. Also, some passengers are not allowed to leave the planes for a long time after landing.
