The Kremlin leader claimed that Ukraine’s actions “complicate peace talks” and criticized Kyiv’s Western partners.
“Have you noticed the hijacking of civilian ships, strikes on civilian commercial vessels, and now there have been threats to attack civilian aircraft. Of course, this is a manifestation of state terrorism. And undoubtedly, this complicates the possibilities of holding bilateral peace talks,” Putin complained, ignoring the fact that Zelensky did not threaten planes but reported a greater danger due to the increasing number of drones in the airspace.
“Those who remain silent, who ignore this – I primarily mean Ukraine’s Western allies – become accomplices to international terrorism. How else? It cannot be interpreted otherwise,” Putin explained.
Ukraine officially informed about the danger in Russian airspace
“Today we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses major Russian airports: Russian airspace is becoming absolutely dangerous,” Zelensky said on September 1.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president noted that Ukraine does not pose a threat to civil aviation itself – not to any civilian aircraft.
“There will simply be so many drones in the Russian sky that it is worth paying attention to. Although the Russian authorities do not properly report this, Russian airspace will be ‘de facto’ closed: the war started by Russia is closing its own sky,” Zelensky emphasized.
15min reminds that Ukraine officially informed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that Russian airspace is unsafe for civil aviation and urged avoiding flights over the aggressor state’s territory.
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This was reported on Wednesday, September 2, on the social network “X” by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.
The minister explained that Russian airspace is becoming increasingly dangerous due to the “suddenly escalating Russian terror against Ukraine.”
“Russia deliberately ignores the threats arising from its aggression against Ukraine, which over the past few years has already caused several incidents,” Sybiha reminded.
They want airlines to know the risk
He emphasized that the decision to warn ICAO was made to ensure that all airlines and governments are aware of the possible risk – even if Russia refuses to fulfill its obligation to inform them.
“We want to prevent accidental incidents,” Sybiha summarized.
The portal ZN.ua reported that Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Mykola Kalashnyk urged ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar to completely ban civil aviation flights over Russia.
The letter from M. Kalashnyk published by the portal reminds that Ukraine closed its airspace at the very beginning of the large-scale invasion – on the night of February 24, 2022. However, Russia has ignored the risks all this time, which, according to the minister, has led to a series of aviation disasters:
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- The shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane by the Russian S-300 air defense system in 2024 (the plane crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan);
- A strike by the same system on a business class Embraer Legacy 600 plane in 2023 in the Tver region of Russia;
- The shooting down of a light aircraft Alto NG by the Tor anti-aircraft defense system near the Russian city of Kolomna in March 2026.
