Russia switches small aircraft operation due to fight against drones

Airfields in the Moscow district have started to provide flight plans to law-enforcement agencies as local residents often mistake small aircraft for Ukrainian UAVs and report them to the emergency services.

The management of the "Shchekino", "Volosovo", "Nudol" aerodromes and the aeroclub "Paralet" reported about the complaints of residents, RBC informs.

After a complaint, the police started checking and asking the aerodromes which vessels were in the air at the time.

"Previously, the police used to come, look, ask if [the planes] took off from our aerodrome ... Lately, they have been calling me directly," Viktor Lobkovsky, director of Vector Avia (the operator of the Nudol aerodrome) said.

He added that he now informs the local branch of the Unified Duty Dispatch Service in advance of departures.

Shchekino airfield director Sergey Ryabchinsky said that he was questioned by police and FSB officers - they showed him videos taken by citizens and asked him to identify the aircraft.

Mikhail Kozmin, head of the Paralet aeroclub, said that its management held a meeting with representatives of the Internal Ministry and the FSB, after which the aeroclub decided to provide data on its flights on a regular basis. In addition, the Paralet airfield was "slightly reduced" in its flight zone - according to Mr Kozmin, "a lot of air defence resources are wasted when they monitor the airspace". The Volosovo Aerodrome also warns the police about flights.

The Novinki and Severka aerodromes said there were no changes in their operations. The Aerohimflot alliance assured that the members of the association had no complications caused by the "mass psychosis around drones".