Zelenskyy warns airlines Russian skies are unsafe amid surging drone war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a stark warning to international airlines, insurers, and governments on Monday that Russian airspace is "becoming completely unsafe" due to the expanding scale of Ukrainian drone operations over Russian territory.euractiv+2

"Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia's key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on September 1. "Russian airspace will effectively be closing — the war started by Russia is closing its skies."rferl+1

The Ukrainian president stressed that Kyiv does not intend to target civilian aircraft but said the volume of drone activity would make normal flight operations untenable. "There will simply be drones in Russia's skies on a scale that has to be taken into account," he said.euractiv+1

Putin Responds, Tensions Escalate

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, branded Zelenskyy's remarks "a declaration of state terrorism" and said Moscow does not "negotiate with terrorists."clickorlando+1

Asked whether Russia would strike British military facilities over the U.K.'s continued provision of weaponry to Ukraine, Putin declined to rule it out, saying with a smile that it is "a military secret."clickorlando

Kirill Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, backed Zelenskyy's warning, stating that Ukrainian long-range weapons would "systematically target military objectives on enemy territory" as long as the aggression continues. According to ua.news, shares of Russian airlines, particularly Aeroflot PJSC Aeroflot, fell following the announcement.ua

Air War Intensifies on Both Sides

The warning came after nearly a week of sustained Russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities. Overnight into Wednesday, Russia fired 174 attack drones — about half of them jet-powered models that are difficult to intercept — along with two ballistic missiles and two plane-launched missiles, the Ukrainian air force said. Strikes on Odesa damaged a 24-story residential building, wounding eight people including a child, while shrapnel injured two more in the Kyiv region.clickorlando

Ukraine's airspace has been closed to civilian aviation since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia, by contrast, has continued operating passenger flights despite increasingly frequent disruptions and temporary airport closures during Ukrainian drone attacks. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has warned that Russian air defenses responding to drone attacks could pose risks to civilian aircraft through misidentification.euromaidanpress+1

The exchange of threats underscored the deepening stalemate in the conflict, now in its fifth year. The Institute for the Study of War said late Tuesday that Russia's spring-summer offensive had failed to break Ukraine's front-line defenses and that Russian advances last month were "a fraction" of Moscow's gains during the same period a year earlier.clickorlando