Subscribe here<\/a>\u00a0so you never miss an issue.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, the threat of Ukrainian drones grounded<\/a> at least 485 flights and delayed<\/a> 1,900 more at airports across Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Moscow\u2019s Sheremetyevo Airport, St. Petersburg\u2019s Pulkovo Airport and Nizhny Novgorod\u2019s Strigino Airport were hit the hardest<\/a> by the wave of cancellations, the ripple effects were felt even in Russia\u2019s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad<\/a> and as far east as Vladivostok<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The aviation collapse, which lasted from Saturday until the early hours of Monday, is estimated to have cost airlines around 20 billion rubles ($250 million) in damage, industry experts say<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To understand the gravity of the situation, it is important to keep in mind that Russia\u2019s centralization of power is not limited to politics and business.\u00a0<\/p>\n The transportation system of the world\u2019s largest country is almost entirely dependent on Moscow, as air and train travel between some regions is impossible without a connection in the capital or St. Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n This remains true even for Russia\u2019s ethnic republics, which were initially designed<\/a> to be equal partner states within the federation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three of the 21 republics of Russia don\u2019t have working airports at all. For the rest, most rely on connections with Moscow and operate only a few flights to other regions of the country, let alone international flights, according<\/a> to a study by news outlet From the Republics.\u00a0<\/p>\n Magas Airport in Russia\u2019s North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia only operates flights<\/a> to and from the Russian capital and Tatarstan\u2019s Kazan International Airport remains a rare outlier used as a hub for cross-regional travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Train travel rarely offers a convenient alternative. Even the republic of Tatarstan\u2019s capital Kazan and Bashkortostan\u2019s Ufa, the two major economic hubs of the Volga-Ural region that are 450 kilometers apart, are not connected by a train line despite repeated demands<\/a> by the many business travelers, tourists and families with work and family ties in the two regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n So while passengers traveling between St. Petersburg and Moscow switched to trains, buying up<\/a> nearly all remaining weekend tickets, those moving between other regions were often forced to wait <\/a>for their flight or the next available connection in crowded airports.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re supposed to refund everything, but since we bought the tickets separately \u2014 well, there\u2019s no guarantee they\u2019ll refund the Kazan leg,\u201d a woman named Yulia told<\/a> independent news outlet Sibir.Realii, a regional affiliate of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty (RFE\/RL).\u00a0<\/p>\n Yulia and her child were supposed to travel from the northwestern city of Murmansk to Nizhny Novgorod with a layover in Kazan, but her plans were put on hold by delays and cancellations<\/a> at Kazan Airport, where disruptions continued<\/a> well into Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m scouring websites in search of what can be done. Will we ever get [to Novgorod] at all?!\u201d Yulia told journalists in the midst of the collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mass flight disruptions were coupled with mobile internet outages, which have become increasingly frequent since mid-June and now plague nearly every region of the country regardless of their proximity to the Ukrainian border, according<\/a> to independent communications watchdog Na Svyazi.\u00a0<\/p>\n A double disaster for travelers, the outage might have proven a blessing for airline carriers and tour companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unlike the previous travel disruption in May, Russia\u2019s Passengers\u2019 Union didn\u2019t record a spike in requests for legal help and assistance during flight delays and cancellations over the weekend, and internet disruptions could be among the key reasons for it, the union\u2019s head Kirill Yankov told<\/a> Kommersant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Residents of multiple Russian regions who spoke with The Moscow Times said their life was thrown into disarray by internet outages even when they were not taking a major trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn the one hand, I actually got some rest from all the calls and messages. On the other hand, it was difficult to buy anything [at the store] because the cash registers weren\u2019t working,\u201d a man from the southern city of Saratov told The Moscow Times on condition of anonymity.\u00a0<\/p>\n A woman from Tambov, a city located some 400 kilometers southeast of Moscow, said: \u201cThe biggest inconveniences amid the outage were paying for purchases in stores, using public transport and communication in general.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMany stores put up notices on their doors warning that there might be connectivity issues and people should be prepared to pay in cash,\u201d the woman told The Moscow Times, requesting anonymity due to safety concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have any problems with navigation since the city is small and locals usually know every street. It\u2019s more of an issue in Moscow,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n In St. Petersburg, mobile internet disruptions began<\/a> late on Friday amid the first reported drone attack and continued throughout the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry reported shooting down more than 200 Ukrainian drones across the country over the weekend. On Monday, the ministry said<\/a> it had downed 91 drones overnight, including eight over the Moscow region and three over the Leningrad region.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t receive a single SMS warning of a drone attack throughout the weekend, just suddenly lost my mobile connection \u2014 that\u2019s it,\u201d said a woman from St. Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was at a concert on Saturday, and the artist\u2019s appearance was delayed by about 40 minutes, while the mobile signal kept being interrupted. It turned out there was an air raid alert [during that time] \u2026 and we had no idea about it,\u201d the woman told The Moscow Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say that I felt scared [for my safety], but I do have mixed feelings about it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n A Message from The Moscow Times:<\/p>\n Dear readers,<\/p>\n We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has designated The Moscow Times as an “undesirable” organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a “foreign agent.”<\/p>\n These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work “discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership.” We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.<\/p>\n We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. 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