From the BBC:
“Zelensky
says airlines should avoid Russian airspace as Ukraine escalates drone
operations”
Ukraine's
president has told airlines that Russian airspace will be "effectively
closing" as his country escalates its drone strikes. "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," Volodymyr Zelensky said. Ukraine has since formally notified
the UN of the risks to civilian aviation. Russian President Vladimir Putin said
the comments amounted to a "declaration of state terrorism".
Most
Western commercial airlines do not fly over Russia because of the ongoing
Russian invasion of Ukraine, but carriers in countries like Turkey and China
do. Explaining the elevated airspace risk in his nightly video address on
Tuesday, Zelensky said that "Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation
as such - not a single civilian aircraft" and did not want the loss of
innocent lives.
"There
will simply be drones in Russia's skies on a scale that has to be taken into
account," he said. Zelensky directed the warning to airlines continuing to
operate flights to Russian airports, especially in major cities like St
Petersburg and Moscow. In a statement on X, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said
that Ukraine had officially notified the International Civil Aviation
Organization that Russian airspace was not safe for civilian aviation. "We
want to prevent unintended incidents," he said, adding: "The war is
returning home to Russia."
On
Wednesday afternoon, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed many planes
flying over Russia, including arriving and departing from the two main
airports, which had some delays, but few cancellations.
Several
airlines that fly through Russia told the BBC that they were carefully
monitoring the situation. Qatar Airways, which flies into Moscow and travels
through Russian airspace to get to the US west coast, said its flight planning
was "guided by rigorous and continuous monitoring of airspace security,
safety assessments, and geopolitical developments". Turkish low-cost
airline Pegasus cancelled its flights to Russia on Tuesday and Wednesday,
citing "technical and operational reasons", but said future flights
"are operating as scheduled". FlyDubai, an Emirati government-owned
carrier, told the BBC that it would "closely monitor the evolving
situation in the region and adjust our flight schedules and routings as
necessary".
Ukraine
has targeted energy facilities deep inside Russian territory and there have
been repeated attacks on depots belonging to Russia's two biggest online
retailers, Wildberries and Ozon.
Its
drone attacks have for months led to disruption at some of Russia's biggest
airports, especially in Moscow where at times all four major airports have been
forced to halt arrivals and departures.
Several
cancellations were reported on Wednesday. Ukraine does not have to target
airports to cause disruption. Under Russia's air defence "Kovyor"
(carpet) plan, flights are suspended if a drone is detected in the relevant
area. Aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in an alert to
clients that while the majority of Ukraine's drone and missile strikes were
likely to occur within 300km (186 miles) of the border, daily attacks deeper
inside Russia were almost certain to continue this year.
"There is also a realistic possibility
that the frequency of Ukrainian strikes will continue to increase in the short
term deep inside Russian territory," the alert added. "It is assessed
that miscalculation and/or misidentification is likely in areas related to the
Ukraine conflict." Speaking to reporters at the Shanghai Co-operation
Organisation 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 heavy strikes
killing 12 people on Tuesday and further attacks on Odesa, Sumy and Kyiv on
Wednesday. Russia's military has said it is preparing to carry out
"massive" strikes on Ukrainian power stations.
The
Ukrainian capital and its surrounding region have come under attack for seven
days in a row. A few weeks ago, Zelensky said Russia was attacking Ukraine
every day, and Ukraine's military had "begun the process of bringing the
war back to Russia". At the weekend he said the same, that Russia had to
feel the war was "returning to where it came from". Putin
acknowledged that Ukrainian strikes had damaged infrastructure inside Russia,
while insisting that "only 10%" of oil refineries were left to
repair.
Chinese,
Turkish and Gulf state airlines are among those using Russian airspace, with
savings in time and fuel on routes between Asia and Europe. Other carriers have
largely avoided the eastern European region since the beginning of Russia's
full-scale invasion in February, 2022. Ukraine has closed its airspace to
civilian aircraft throughout that period. The risks of civil aviation during a
war are clear. A few months after war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014
between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military, a Russian-made
missile brought down a passenger plane, killing all 298 people on board. 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. The Kremlin
has always denied any responsibility for the air disaster. In 2024, Putin
apologised to the president of neighbouring Azerbaijan over the downing of a
commercial airliner in Russian airspace, in which 38 people were killed.He said
the "tragic incident" had occurred when Russian air defence systems
were repelling Ukrainian drones. A thin, grey banner promoting the News Daily
newsletter. On the right, there is a graphic of an orange sphere with two
concentric crescent shapes around it in a red-orange gradient, like a sound
wave. The banner reads: “The latest news in your inbox first thing.”
^Anyone
(Russian or Foreigner) flying into, through or out of Russia should be very
worried that their plane will be hit by a Ukrainian Drone.
Ukrainian
Airspace has been closed since Russia started its War in February 2022.
Now
it's time for those in Russia to feel the effects of their War not through
Russian Government Controlled Media, but by bombings of Military Targets
disruptions in Air Travel, Fuel Rationing and Shortages throughout Russia.
Russians
don't care how many of their Boys and Men are being killed and wounded in
Ukraine (over a Million and counting) but they do care about not being able to
live in the safety bubble they created for themselves.
It's
time for Ukraine to burst that bubble. ^
