Zelenskyy warns airlines Russian airspace is unsafe
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned airlines, insurers and operators still using Russian airports that the country's airspace is becoming "completely unsafe", citing the growing number of Ukrainian attack drones striking deep inside Russian territory. Vladimir Putin responded angrily, calling the warning "state terrorism" and insisting "negotiations are not conducted with terrorists", while confirming Russian forces have been ordered to prepare mass strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this winter to disrupt heating and power supplies.
Ukraine's foreign secretary, Andrii Sybiha, said Kyiv had formally notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace is unsafe for civilian aviation. Ukraine can already launch a few hundred drones a day and is reportedly working towards a target of 1,000, with strikes reaching over 2,000km into Russia this year, including near Moscow and St Petersburg; analysts suggest this could force periodic but not permanent airport closures. Putin also declined to say whether Russia would strike UK military facilities producing weapons for Ukraine, calling it "a military secret", after accusing Britain of "escalation" over British-made drones allegedly used in long-range Ukrainian strikes.
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In short
- Zelenskyy warns airlines Russian airspace is unsafe amid rising drone strikes
- Putin calls the warning "state terrorism", vows mass strikes on Ukraine's energy grid
- Kyiv formally notified UN aviation body; Putin dodges question on striking UK bases
How this story developed
- 2 months ago The story was restated in broader terms, with the focus shifting from Zelenskyy's specific warning to airlines and Putin's evasion on British targets towards a general framing of escalating rhetoric on both sides as the war continues without resolution.
- 2 months ago Zelenskyy warned airlines, insurers and operators to treat Russian airspace as "completely unsafe" amid rising Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia, prompting Putin to call the remarks "state terrorism" and confirm orders for mass winter strikes on Ukraine's energy grid, while Kyiv notified the ICAO and Putin sidestepped questions on hitting UK weapons-making facilities.
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The case for
Supporters of Ukraine's approach argue that its campaign of long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries, warehouses and military-linked sites is a legitimate act of self-defence against an unprovoked invasion, and that warning airlines and insurers of genuine safety risks is a responsible, transparent step consistent with international civil aviation norms rather than an idle threat. They see sustained pressure on Russia's war economy as a proportionate response to Moscow's own strikes on Ukrainian civilian energy infrastructure, and argue that if the airspace is genuinely unsafe, saying so openly protects lives rather than endangering them.
The case against
Others would caution that expanding deep strikes into Russian territory and issuing sweeping airspace warnings risks further escalation, drawing international carriers, insurers and possibly other states into the conflict's periphery and inviting disproportionate retaliation, as Russia's threatened winter strikes on Ukraine's own energy grid illustrate. They may also argue that using a safety-notification mechanism intended for neutral risk assessment as a tool of strategic and economic pressure blurs the line between genuine aviation safety guidance and information warfare, potentially complicating Ukraine's standing with bodies such as ICAO and making de-escalation or negotiation harder to achieve.
Explained simply
Ukraine has been stepping up long-range drone strikes on targets deep inside Russia, including oil refineries, warehouses and industrial sites more than 2,000km from the border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy argues that these attacks, along with Russia's own air defence activity, make Russian airspace too dangerous for ordinary passenger flights, and he wants foreign airlines and insurers to stop treating major Russian airports as safe to use.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected this warning as a threat rather than a safety concern, comparing it to terrorism and ruling out talks on those terms. The exchange sits within the wider war between Russia and Ukraine, now in its fourth year, which has drawn in Western allies supplying Ukraine with weapons and technology, including reported British-made drones.
The dispute matters because it touches on international aviation safety rules as well as the course of the war. Ukraine has formally raised its concerns with the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN body that sets global standards for civil air travel, while both sides continue to signal further strikes, including on energy infrastructure and, potentially, facilities abroad linked to weapons production.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Russian airspace becoming unsafe for commercial airlines, Zelenskyy says”.