Zelenskyy threatens to close air traffic over Russia using drones Today’s news
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines to avoid Russian airspace as he threatened to flood the skies with drones in response to Moscow’s escalating missile attacks.
“Russian airspace will effectively close,” Zelenskyy wrote on X late Tuesday. “There will simply be drones in Russian skies at a scale to be considered.”
The warning came after Russia’s deadly bombardment of Kiev and the surrounding region stretched into a sixth straight night as Ukraine grapples with a shortage of US-made Patriot air defense missiles, with near-continuous air raid alerts adding to the disruption of daily life.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine will not threaten civilian aircraft. But he warned airlines, insurers and others who use Russian airspace and major airports, including those in Moscow and St. Petersburg, that flying there is becoming increasingly dangerous.
Ukraine has been unable to maintain civilian air traffic since the Kremlin launched its all-out invasion more than four and a half years ago. Russia, on the other hand, continues to operate domestic and some international flights, with air travel particularly important for connecting the country spanning 11 time zones.
The planned drone campaign would build on Kiev’s attempt to take the war to Russia by striking refineries, ports and, more recently, warehouses of major online retailers.
Zelenskyy said he was aware that his country’s partners were planning a new round of talks in Moscow, according to a separate video statement posted on Telegram. Ukraine will be ready, at the request of allies, to clear parts of Russian skies of drones for a certain period of time to allow for peace talks, he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had complied with a US request to suspend strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg in late August to allow for a rare visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. He also said Kiev had suspended attacks around Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East at the request of another country, which he did not identify.
US-brokered peace talks with Russia have produced no tangible progress since President Donald Trump returned to the White House promising a swift end to the fighting.
Instead, Kiev and Moscow have stepped up airstrikes targeting each other’s energy infrastructure and logistics networks.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that he had a “detailed and constructive conversation” with two of Trump’s special envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – and said they were now talking about “locking in the dates” for the pair’s visit to Kyiv. The Ukrainian president has repeatedly offered the trip in recent months, but it has not yet taken place.
Witkoff traveled to Moscow eight times and met with President Vladimir Putin on several occasions.
“Now new meetings are planned in Moscow,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. “We’ll take that into consideration.
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