Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned commercial airlines on September 1 that Russian airspace is becoming unsafe due to long-range drone activity.
Ukrainian long-range strikes deep into Russian territory have driven the conflict into a new operational phase, prompting severe warnings from Kyiv directed at the global aviation industry and triggering promises of heavy retaliation from the Kremlin. The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as the conflict stretches into its fifth year following Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour. The front line in eastern and southern Ukraine remains largely deadlocked, and US efforts to negotiate a peace settlement have yet to produce a path to peace.
Zelenskyy Warns Aviation Industry Over Drone Risks in Russian Skies
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared that Russia’s airspace is becoming unsafe for commercial airlines as Vladimir Putin promised to step up strikes against Ukraine’s energy facilities in the run-up to winter. The Ukrainian president said there was no intention to directly threaten civilian flights, but the growing number of attack drones being flown into Russia by Ukraine would have to be taken into account
by the aviation industry.
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,
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
Ukraine’s foreign secretary, Andrii Sybiha, said Kyiv had notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace is not safe for civilian aviation
because of increased military activity. A rapid escalation of Ukrainian military capability in the past few months has allowed Ukraine’s forces to strike at targets around Moscow, St Petersburg and other locations deep inside Russia. Reliable figures for the number of drone flights are hard to obtain but Ukraine is already capable of launching a few hundred a day, and military sources say the country is chasing a target of 1,000 drones in an effort to hurt Russia’s economy. Justin Bronk, an aviation analyst at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said he believed Ukraine could force periodic closures of Russian airports on a semi-regular basis
by relying on an element of surprise. Commercial airspace over Ukraine has remained closed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Putin Rejects Mobilization Reports and Orders Energy Infrastructure Strikes
Responding from a summit in Kyrgyzstan hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Vladimir Putin rejected Western and Ukrainian intelligence reports indicating that Moscow is preparing another wave of military mobilization. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 1 dismissed reports of a possible new wave of mobilization in Russia as absolute nonsense,
while saying he had ordered preparations for large-scale strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Putin made the remarks during a press conference following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan, where he was asked about reports that Moscow could announce another mobilization after upcoming State Duma elections.
This is absolute nonsense. This is an information attack on Russia,
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
The remarks follow warnings from President Volodymyr Zelensky that the Kremlin could resort to another mobilization drive, with Zelensky recently saying Moscow intends to recruit around 300,000 personnel in 2026 and another 300,000 in 2027. During the same press conference, Putin said he had instructed the Russian military to prepare massive strikes
against Ukraine’s energy facilities, portraying them as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks against Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure. Putin claimed he had been briefed on Sept. 1 that a large number of Ukrainian drones attempted to penetrate air defenses around Moscow and St. Petersburg and strike three oil refineries.
Keeping all this in mind… the armed forces of Russia have been instructed to prepare and launch massive strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities. They are hitting ours, they will get a response.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Putin accused Zelenskyy of state terrorism
and said: We don’t negotiate with terrorists.
At a late-night news conference on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin also addressed reports that the Ukrainian military had used British-made drones to strike targets inside Russia. Asked whether Russia would strike British military facilities if the UK government continues to provide Ukraine with weaponry, Putin declined to rule it out.
Overnight Bombardments and Regional Casualties Across Ukraine and Russia
Russian drone attacks across Ukraine have killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin threatened to escalate the conflict. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities reported attacks in the capital, Kyiv, in the southern city of Odesa and in eastern Dnipro, where the body of a man was retrieved from under rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles in its attacks, as another night of bombardment killed at least nine civilians and injured dozens of others. Zelenskyy said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in their attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, where local officials said six people were killed and 19 wounded. Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said. Russia has received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, Zelenskyy said late Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024 that pledged mutual aid if either country faced aggression. Since then, various reports of Ukrainian troops skirmishing with North Korean counterparts have emerged. The Ukrainian president warned that North Korea’s missile capabilities are being improved by the collaboration with Russia. In December 2024, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated that there had already been more than 1,000 North Korean troops in the war. Strikes on Sept. 1 killed 12 people and wounded another 21 in Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to the supplied reports.
