Vladimir Zelensky has threatened that Ukrainian drone attacks would make the country’s airspace unsafe for civilian aviation
Kiev has demanded that the UN aviation watchdog effectively shut Russian airspace to civilian traffic after Vladimir Zelensky threatened that Ukraine’s expanding long-range drone campaign would make flying over the country increasingly dangerous.
Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli reported on Wednesday that Infrastructure Minister Nikolay Kalashnik had sent a letter to Juan Carlos Salazar, secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), calling for action against flights through Russian airspace.
The letter urged the watchdog to “encourage aviation authorities, air navigation service providers and airlines” operating in Russia to take measures to “protect” civilian aircraft, including a complete ban on flights through Russian airspace by carriers from ICAO member states.
“The presence of civilian aircraft in Russian airspace may entail particularly high risks,” Kalashnik reportedly wrote in the letter obtained by the outlet.
ICAO later issued a general statement on aviation safety but mentioned neither Russia nor Ukraine and did not directly address Kiev’s demand. Instead, it appealed to all member states to “assess the safety of airspace controlled by them and take all appropriate measures.”
Kiev’s demand followed an explicit threat from Zelensky to foreign airlines, insurers and governments on Tuesday that continued Ukrainian drone attacks would put civilian aviation in Russia at risk.
“The safe days in Russia’s skies are over,” he said, urging carriers to reconsider flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major Russian destinations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described Zelensky’s warning as a move toward “state terrorism” and vowed that Moscow would respond if Kiev’s threats resulted in tragedy. “Let no one doubt that,” he said.
Ukraine has intensified long-range drone strikes on Russia in recent months, repeatedly grounding flights and causing prolonged disruptions at airports as air defenses respond to incoming UAVs. The attacks have also targeted Russian ports, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, including e-commerce warehouses.
Drones have also struck residential areas, including high-rise apartment buildings and houses.
An attack last month on the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik in southern Russia killed at least eight people, including four children, and wounded dozens more. Another strike on industrial and civilian sites in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, killed 13 people, while a July 18 attack on a Wildberries warehouse in the town of Kotovsk in Tambov Region left seven workers dead.
Moscow has described the intensified Ukrainian strikes as indiscriminate terrorist attacks intended to distract from Kiev’s battlefield setbacks and has responded with renewed long-range strikes on Ukraine. The Russian military maintains that it does not target purely civilian facilities, saying its attacks are directed at military, defense-industrial and dual-use sites.
