Zelensky says airlines should avoid Russian airspace as Ukraine steps up drone operations

Ukraine’s president has told airlines that Russian airspace will be “effectively closed” as his country steps up its drone attacks.

“We want to warn all airlines using Russian airspace, all insurers, all those still using key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous,” says Volodymyr Zelensky.

Most Western commercial airlines do not fly over Russia as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, but airlines from countries such as China do.

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying Zelensky’s comments amounted to a “declaration of state terrorism,” adding that Russia would continue to escalate its own attacks against Ukraine.

Explaining the high risk of airspace, Zelensky said: “Ukraine does not threaten civil aviation as such, not a single civil aircraft.

“There will simply be drones in the skies of Russia on a scale that must be taken into account,” he said in his late-night video address on Tuesday.

Zelensky stated that “the war started by Russia is closing its skies.”

He directed the warning to airlines that continue to operate flights to Russian airports, especially in major cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Ukraine has targeted energy facilities deep inside Russian territory, as well as large retailers.

Aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in an alert to clients that while most of Ukraine’s drone and missile attacks would likely occur within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the border, daily attacks inside Russia were almost certain to continue this year.

“There is also a realistic possibility that the frequency of Ukrainian attacks will continue to increase in the short term deep into Russian territory,” the alert adds. “Miscalculations and/or misidentification are considered likely to occur in areas related to the Ukraine conflict.”

Speaking to reporters at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin said: “They are asking us to resume negotiations… but you don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

His comments come as Russia’s attacks on Ukraine continue, with intense strikes killing 12 people on Monday. The military has said it is preparing to carry out “massive” attacks on Ukrainian power plants.

Putin also acknowledged that the Ukrainian attacks had damaged infrastructure inside Russia, while insisting that “only 10%” of oil refineries remained to be repaired.

Chinese, Turkish and Gulf state airlines are among those using Russian airspace, with time and fuel savings on routes between Asia and Europe.

Other carriers have largely avoided the Eastern European region since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine has closed its airspace to civilian aircraft since the start of the war.

Last year, the UN aviation agency ruled that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.

All 298 people aboard the passenger plane were killed when it was shot down by a Russian-made missile. The Kremlin has always denied any responsibility for the air disaster.

In 2024, Putin apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, which killed 38 people.

He said the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems were repelling Ukrainian drones.