Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is warning airlines and insurers that Russian airspace is becoming increasingly unsafe as Ukraine dramatically expands its long-range drone campaign. The threat is clear: if Russia will not stop attacking Ukraine from the air, Ukraine intends to make commercial and other civilian aviation inside Russia increasingly difficult. But can Ukraine actually shut Russian airspace down? And if it tries, will Russia attempt the same thing over Europe?
“Russian airspace will effectively be closing,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia can intercept many Ukrainian drones. But aviation safety is built around extremely low tolerance for catastrophic risk. A single drone alert near an airport can be enough to suspend arrivals and departures. And the danger is not limited to a direct collision with a drone: air-defense systems responding to Ukrainian UAVs create their own threat to civilian aircraft, as we saw with the shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines jet in 2024 after Russian air defenses responded to Ukrainian drones, killing 38 people.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
