Zelenskyy Warns Airlines Russian Airspace Becoming ‘Dangerous’ As Ukraine Expands Drone Strikes

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/MOSCOW (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned international airlines and insurers that Russian airspace is becoming increasingly dangerous as Ukraine expands long-range drone and missile attacks in response to Moscow’s invasion.

Tuesday’s warning came after Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 12 people and injured dozens in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

“Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address.

“Drone-infested skies are no place for civilian aviation,” he added, while stressing that Kyiv was not threatening civilian aircraft.

RUSSIAN AIRSPACE WARNING

“There will simply be drones in Russia’s skies on a scale that has to be taken into account,” Zelenskyy said, without specifying how extensively Ukrainian drone operations would increase.

His warning came as Ukraine intensified long-range attacks on Russian military and energy infrastructure, particularly oil refineries, seeking to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance and sustain its war.

“It is entirely natural and just that its consequences will also extend to Russia — including Russian airspace, which already is, and will increasingly become, a space for our drones and our missiles that are actively and justly responding to Russia’s war,” Zelenskyy said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked about the warning during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, said Moscow would respond in case of any incidents and described such statements as amounting to “state terrorism.”

RUSSIA FACES FUEL PRESSURE

Ukraine’s campaign against Russian refineries has also contributed to mounting pressure on Moscow’s domestic fuel supplies, prompting Russia to restrict exports and seek additional refining capacity abroad.

Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said the privately owned Kondensat refinery in western Kazakhstan would process Russian crude, with about 70 percent of the resulting products being returned to Russia.

However, the facility’s capacity is tiny compared with Russian consumption. Kondensat can produce up to roughly 200,000 metric tons of gasoline annually, while Russia consumes as much as 120,000 metric tons per day during the summer months.

John Roberts, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, suggested Moscow’s decision could reflect the seriousness of its shortages. “Possibly this may simply be a question of sheer desperation by Russia,” he said. “The shortage that they have of fuel, of gasoline and diesel, is acute. It helps, but it doesn’t solve the problem.”

DEADLY RUSSIAN STRIKES

The developments came as Russian forces launched fresh attacks across Ukraine as children returned to school for the new academic year.

In Boryspil in the Kyiv region, at least four people were killed and 13 others injured when a Russian missile struck near a residential building, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Residents were seen searching through wreckage for belongings while emergency workers assisted the wounded. Elsewhere, authorities said a Russian drone directly struck a high-rise residential building in Kyiv.

“This is nothing but Russian terror against civilians,” Zelenskyy said. “This escalation cannot and will not remain confined to Ukrainian territory.”

CIVIL AVIATION RISKS

Commercial aviation has largely avoided Ukrainian airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, while the growing range of Ukrainian drones has increasingly brought the consequences of the war deep inside Russia.

The warning also comes more than 12 years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Russian-backed separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew aboard.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not targeting civilian aircraft but argued airlines and insurers should now take the increasing presence of Ukrainian drones and missiles over Russian territory into account.

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