One of the world’s largest cargo planes comes within metres of a block of flats to avoid drones

One of the world’s largest cargo planes flew at a shockingly low altitude to avoid a swarm of Ukrainian drones early this morning.

The Russian defence ministry’s Antonov-124 stunned residents as it flew low above apartment buildings towards Vnukovo airport in Moscow.

The manoeuvre was to avoid Ukrainian kamikaze drones, which targeted Moscow during the night and this morning, causing flight chaos.

Russian air defences shot down many of the incoming unmanned drones in one of the largest Ukrainian attacks on Vladimir Putin’s capital city since the start of the war.

An explosion in a car park in Reutov – nine miles east of the Kremlin – was reported on a rare night when the war came to Moscow.

It was not initially clear if the Antonov had been landing or taking off from Vnukovo.

There are only 57 of the planes in the world, used for cargo for both commercial and private reasons.

The plane flew incredibly close to the ground (Picture: East2West)

The giant plane – part of Putin’s war machine – is 226ft long with a wingspan of 240ft, and a takeoff weight of 450 tons, with a payload of 150 tons.

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said at least 34 drones had been shot down as the strikes continued this morning.

The city’s major international air hub, Sheremetyevo, was forced to suspend departures and arrivals, as were airports at Kazan and Nizhnekamsk.

A Dubai to Moscow flight was forced to land at Nizhny Novgorod with passengers issued with mattresses on the terminal floor after a three-hour wait on the plane.

A flight from Vladivostok to Moscow was forced to reroute to St Petersburg.

One passenger wrote: ‘There are 300 of us. There’s no food, no alcohol, only water, and everyone’s battery chargers are dead. The flight was rescheduled several times.’

The drama in Moscow came as major airports in northern Europe faced disruption due to drones buzzing key airports in Copenhagen and Oslo.

Dozens of other flights were cancelled or grounded (Picture: East2West)

Meanwhile, Russia has been staging devastating new attacks across Ukraine, killing civilians.

A missile strike on Tatarbunary in the Odesa region left one woman dead and three people injured.

Six Russian aerial bombs hit a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, killing one woman.

The latest strikes come as Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky are due to meet later today in New York.

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