Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Tuesday that Ukraine would escalate its drone attacks inside Russia and warned that “safe days” are over for civilian aircraft in Russian airspace.
“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,” Zelensky said in a post on X that cited his nightly address.
While the statement reads as an implicit threat against civilian aircraft, Zelensky insisted that wasn’t what he was doing. “Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation as such – not a single civilian aircraft. There will simply be drones in Russia’s skies on a scale that has to be taken into account,” he said.
“We in Ukraine do not want innocent lives to be lost. That is why we are warning our partners: the safe days in Russia’s skies are over. It is important that this is heard by the ambassadors of countries represented here in Ukraine, as well as by ambassadors working in Moscow,” Zelensky added.
The Ukrainian leader also said in his address that at the request of the US, he paused attacks on Moscow and St. Petersburg from August 25 to August 27, which coincided with CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow, and that he could take similar steps in the future but that for now, the “skies over Russia are for drones – not for civilian aviation.”
Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks in Russia, which are supported by US intelligence, have already dramatically escalated this year, resulting in increasing civilian casualties inside Russia. Moscow has responded by escalating its missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, leading to more Ukrainian civilian casualties.
