Operation “M&M’s” Returns: Expert Explains the Goal of Blocking Russian Airports

Political expert and Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Oleksandr Musiienko commented on President Zelenskyy’s statement that Ukrainian strikes will make the skies over Russia dangerous, and assessed the consequences of such an operation, reports Politeka.

He spoke about this on his blog.

“By the way, do you remember the Operation ‘M&M’s,’ which was actively discussed in the media and was allegedly proposed by Fedorov to make life difficult for Russian aviation? The idea was that the president was refusing to do it because of the risks to civilians. It had to be done in such a way that the West would not accuse us of anything.

“And now, in fact, we are going to implement an operation without posing a threat to civilians, aimed at disrupting flights in Russian airspace, at least in the European part of the country,” Oleksandr Musiienko said.

According to the expert, this means closing major airports around the largest cities, particularly Moscow and St. Petersburg. The president said that airlines were being warned. Musiienko explains that this primarily concerns Turkish Airlines and Emirates Airline, because there are not many airlines still flying to Russia. Following the sanctions, European carriers stopped operating flights to Russian airports.

Therefore, the expert notes, if Turkish Airlines and Emirates Airline also stop flying to Russia, it will make it more difficult for Russians to travel by air, forcing them to switch to cars and trains.

He emphasized that this would cause significant losses for the Russian economy and aviation industry, which has already suffered heavily as a result of European sanctions. Following Zelenskyy’s statement, shares of Aeroflot reportedly fell by a record 5% almost immediately.

“Ukraine is testing different ways and looking for ways to hurt Russia even more, especially ahead of the elections, by creating maximum problems for various sectors of the economy and for ordinary Russians.

“The message is that Russia started the full-scale war against Ukraine, so that anti-war sentiments would be heard from every possible platform inside Russia,” Oleksandr Musiienko explained.