Zelensky warns airlines Russia’s sky ‘completely unsafe’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned airlines on Tuesday against flying into Russian airspace as his military responds to an “escalation” in missile and drone attacks.

Zelensky said in an evening address that Russia has recently changed its defense tactics, focusing on strikes from Ukrainian airspace. After the most recent wave of attacks, the Ukrainian president added, this type of warfare “cannot and will not remain confined” to his country’s territory.

“Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” he continued .

Zelensky directed the warning at countries with embassies in Ukraine and Russia, as well as at airlines flying to airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and “other key [Russian] destinations.” However, he clarified the country’s threats do not apply to civilian aircrafts.

The Ukrainian president also noted his Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies will provide “full information” to international entities on the impending “dangers” in Russian airspace.

During his address, Zelensky confirmed a Russian ballistic missile struck Kyiv on Monday accompanied by “numerous drone strikes” on other Ukrainian cities.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said Russia struck a railway depot where there “was no military equipment whatsoever.”

Ukraine has ramped up its production of long-range weapons during the four-plus-year war , boosting its arsenals of drones and cruise missiles with assistance from foreign partners.

“Two years ago, Russia’s advantage was this huge country that we couldn’t reach into,” Oleg Krot, the founder of Ukrainian weapons Culver Aerospace, recently told The Wall Street Journal .

Krot added that Ukraine’s weapons are now “only at the beginning of the real capabilities they will have over the next few years.”

Russian strikes killed 437 Ukrainian civilians in July, marking the deadliest month for civilians in the eastern European nation since May 2022, according to the United Nations’ (UN) Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine .

July also saw the highest number of child Ukraine War casualties since April 2022, with 17 Ukrainian children killed and another 166 injured, per the UN.

“Civilian casualties from aerial bombardments (105 killed; 753 injured) increased by 143 per cent compared with June 2026 (45 killed; 308 injured), with glide bombs becoming the second leading cause of civilian casualties,” the UN mission noted in its Aug. 12 report.

German officials on Tuesday also accused Russia of being behind a drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport last month.

“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing — the war started by Russia is closing its skies,” Zelensky said Tuesday. “We in Ukraine do not want innocent lives to be lost.

He added, “That is why we are warning our partners: the safe days in Russia’s skies are over.”