El Al announced on Thursday morning that it is suspending service on its Tel Aviv-Moscow route for the coming days. The airline said the move was made because of “developments between Russia and Ukraine and recent aviation events in the area.”
The decision comes after Ukraine carried out a wide strike on Moscow last week, including the launch of 555 drones. According to Moscow, some of the drones caused damage to oil refineries in the city. In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that “massive attacks against Ukraine” would soon take place.
The latest exchange adds to a broader escalation in attacks by Ukraine on Moscow and on Crimea, which the report says marks a significant worsening of the fighting. From the Israeli side, El Al said it will conduct a fresh situation assessment next week and then decide whether to resume flights on the route.
Passengers whose trips to Moscow have already been scheduled will be offered several alternatives, in line with applicable law. The airline noted that suspending flights is an unusual step, and said it has only canceled Moscow flights twice since the war began, once at the start of the war in February 2022 and again in December 2024 after an Azerbaijani aircraft was intercepted by the Russians.