Volodymyr Zelensky has deemed Russian airspace to be “completely unsafe” in a warning to airlines ahead of Ukrainian drone attacks.
The president declared that “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over” in his nightly video address on Tuesday, adding that he did not want innocent lives to be lost.
“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing – the war started by Russia is closing its skies.
“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,” he said.
Vladimir Putin said the warning sounded like “state terrorism” and Moscow would find a way to respond.
Earlier today, Kyiv revealed its forces have trapped around 2,500 Russian soldiers on a tiny strip of land stretching into the Black Sea.
The troops are stranded on the occupied Kinburn Spit, a long ridge of sand which juts out from Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, Ukrainian commanders told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Crimea.Realities podcast.
Drone strikes have targeted deliveries of ammunition and food, a recconnaisance commander with the call sign ‘Yava’ said on the podcast according to United24.
Explosion heard in Kyiv
An explosion has been heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Wednesday morning, witnesses said.
Renewed Russian strikes would make this the seventh consecutive day of attacks on the city.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 06:11
Zelensky confirms Trump’s request to pause strikes on Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces held back on attacks on Russia last week in response to a request from the Trump administration.
“When the Americans asked us to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on 25, 26 and 27 August, we observed that pause. There were no strikes on Russia, while strikes on Ukraine continued,” he said.
Stating that Ukraine supports every move in the direction of peace, Zelensky said: “When another global power asked us to pause strikes in the direction of Vladivostok for a specified period of time, we agreed to ensure that as well. New meetings in Moscow are now being prepared, and we will take that into account.”
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:52
Zelensky declares Russian airspace ‘completely unsafe’ ahead of drone attack
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned airlines that Russia’s airspace is “completely unsafe” amid Ukrainian drone strikes.
The Ukrainian president issued the warning in his nightly video address, saying he did not want innocent lives to be lost, but “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over.”
“Today, 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.
“Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation as such – not a single civilian aircraft. There will simply be drones in Russia’s skies on a scale that has to be taken into account.
“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing – the war started by Russia is closing its skies.
“It is important that this is heard by the ambassadors of countries represented here in Ukraine, as well as by ambassadors working in Moscow.
“It is important that the airlines currently flying to airports primarily in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other key destinations in Russia hear this as well.”
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:34
Kremlin adviser and papal envoy to discuss Ukraine humanitarian issues
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov will discuss humanitarian issues in the Ukraine conflict with papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi later this month in Russia, Ushakov was quoted by media as saying on Tuesday.
“I will receive him at the end of September, and we will specifically talk about Ukrainian matters,” Russian news agencies said Ushakov told state television.
“Zuppi has come to us several times. He mainly deals with humanitarian issues and we will continue discussing those. Of course, the political side of things is involved too. You can’t get around it.”
Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops conference, last visited Moscow in October 2024 for talks about family reunification, prisoner of war exchanges and prospects for dialogue about ending the war in Ukraine.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:00
Are there airspace risks to Russian skies as stated by Zelensky?
The full risk of Ukrainian drones to aviation over Russia, the world’s largest country by land mass, 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 300km (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.”
Osprey said Russian military air defences included conventional surface-to-air missile systems capable at all altitudes.
Last year, Europe’s top rights court found Russia responsible for the downing of a Malaysian jetliner in 2014 at cruising altitude over eastern Ukraine where there was fighting.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 04:36
Putin says Moscow open to talks to end war
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow was open to talks aimed at ending, rather than freezing, the war, and restated its willingness to talk to US president Donald Trump’s envoys.
“If someone makes, or can make, a tangible contribution to this process, we are all in favour,” Putin said.
“The only thing we would want to avoid is the process spinning its wheels pointlessly. However, if someone is capable of bringing something positive to these negotiations – which, as we understand it, are currently somewhat frozen – then, generally speaking, we are not opposed.”
Putin specifically acknowledged that Ukrainian drone strikes had caused damage to Russian oil refineries, although without referring to widespread fuel shortages that have resulted from those attacks.
But he said that the level of protection had improved, and “we only have 10 per cent of our refineries left to repair”.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 04:23
Putin says Russia is winning on battlefield and will not negotiate with ‘terrorists’
President Vladimir Putin said Russia was winning the war in Ukraine and portrayed the Ukrainian leadership as “terrorists” with whom Moscow could not negotiate.
Putin, in his most detailed comments on the war for many weeks, acknowledged that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia had inflicted real damage and said that drones posed a particular challenge.
The Russian leader said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s warning to airlines that Ukrainian drones would effectively shut down Russian airspace sounded like “state terrorism” and that Moscow would find a way to respond if it happened.
Speaking at a news conference after a summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin said it was not possible to negotiate with “terrorists”.
But he said that Russia was advancing on the battlefield and told reporters: “I have no doubt the enemy will crumble.”
He declined to say when that would happen. Rumours that Russia would be forced to order a new military mobilisation were “utter nonsense,” he said.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 04:05
Russian attacks damage infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa
Russian attacks damaged infrastructure and residential buildings in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, Serhiy Lysak, the head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram.
The attack took place in the early hours today. Lysak did not share details on casualties.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 03:52
Russian FPV drone strike sparks high-rise fire as rescuers evacuate residents
Harriette Boucher2 September 2026 03:00
Germany blames Russia for explosive drone attack at Leipzig airport
Germany has blamed Russia for an attempted explosive drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month after a device was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane.
The explosive-laden drone, which was defused, had prompted a counterterrorism investigation and fears of another hybrid attack on European soil.
German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt announced on Tuesday that the German government “comes to the conclusion that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on 4 August.
“Taken together, police investigations, patterns of the offences and intelligence findings establish Russian responsibility for the attempted attack,” he added.
Mr Dobrindt said the event corresponds with a known pattern of “Russian hybrid operations,” adding: “We assume that Germany is the target of further hybrid attacks by Russia.”
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephu, has ordered a series of retaliatory actions, including the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn along with the Russian House, a cultural centre in Berlin.
Mr Wadephu said he did not believe the event was an isolated incident.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would respond in a “mirror-image” fashion to Germany’s measures, telling German Press Agency that “Berlin is sponsoring terrorism”.
Germany blames Russia for explosive drone attack at Leipzig airport
Germany’s interior minister said the event corresponds with a known pattern of ‘Russian hybrid operations’Harriette Boucher2 September 2026 02:00NewerOlder