The Russian Executive stated this Wednesday that it will guarantee the protection of civil aviation crossing its airspace, after the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, urged airlines to avoid flying over Russia and warned that its sky will be "effectively closed" due to the increase in drone attacks launched by Ukrainian forces.
The Minister of Transport of Russia, Andrei Nikitin, emphasized that "Of course, we are preparing for this and we take all these threats into account." In this line, he stressed that "We are constantly improving air and airport security requirements, and there are responses to all this. There are responses to all these threats expressed by the terrorists."
The Transport official insisted that his ministry "works closely" with the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard to face the current scenario, while expressing his confidence that "there will be no significant impacts on civil aviation" and guaranteed that "the safety of passengers is a priority," according to statements collected by the Russian news agency Interfax.
For his part, Zelensky issued an alert message on Tuesday night to "all airlines using the airspace" and to those "still using the main airports of Russia." "Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe," he pointed out, before emphasizing that "Ukraine does not threaten civil aviation as such." "There will simply be drones in Russian skies on a scale that must be taken into account," he added.
The Ukrainian president insisted that "A drone-infested airspace is not a place for civil aviation," and maintained that "this escalation cannot and will not be confined to Ukrainian territory." "It is absolutely natural and fair that the consequences also extend to Russia, including its airspace, which is already and will increasingly be space for our drones and missiles, which respond actively and justly to the Russian war," he concluded.