Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned airlines and insurance companies on Tuesday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian skies dangerous to use and that they were effectively closed.
"Today, 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," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
Ukraine poses no threat to civil aviation, he said, "but there will be drones in Russia's skies and due notice must be taken."
"Although Russian authorities are not properly announcing it, Russian airspace will effectively be closing. The war started by Russia is closing its own skies," Zelensky added.
The full risk of Ukrainian drones to aviation over Russia is not clear, but there have been deadly incidents of civilian aircraft being mistakenly targeted in the region.
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 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the border, daily attacks deeper inside Russia were near-certain through 2026, including near Moscow and St Petersburg.
"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 said. "It is assessed that miscalculation and/or misidentification is likely in areas related to the Ukraine conflict."
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