Russian airspace will be closing, Zelenskyy says

The president announced this in an evening address.

Zelenskyy emphasized that Russia has changed its tactics and, since August, has been terrorizing Ukrainian cities and villages on a much larger scale; children are forced to go to school on September 1 amid shelling. Therefore, it is only fair that there will be a response directed at Russia as well.

He stressed that Ukraine has no intention of striking civilian aviation, but flights over Russia are becoming increasingly dangerous.

Zelenskyy called on diplomats to convey this information to their governments—due to the war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine, its airspace will, in fact, become increasingly unsuitable for safe flights.

Separately, Zelenskyy drew attention to airlines that continue to operate flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major Russian destinations.

He stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and other relevant government agencies will provide international organizations with full information regarding the dangers in Russian airspace.

Zelenskyy also stated that, at the request of the U.S., Ukraine halted shelling of Russia on August 25–27 and did not strike Vladivostok at the request of “another state.” Ukraine appreciates the diplomatic efforts of other countries and will therefore ensure a “clear sky” free of drones for a certain period, but safety in the skies over Russia will return only when a genuine movement toward peace begins.

According to media reports, in early 2026, Kyiv was already considering the possibility of conducting a second “Spiderweb”—a large-scale operation using drones equipped with artificial intelligence to disrupt operations at Moscow’s airports. At present, the future of this operation remains uncertain.

As a reminder, President Zelenskyy previously stated that Ukraine is deploying more than 300 long-range drones per day and plans to ramp up production to 1,000 drones per day. Ukraine’s next steps will depend on Russia’s willingness to end the war and move toward substantive peace negotiations.