Is the war entering a new phase? Can Ukraine's drones shut Russian airspace? Share Can Ukraine's drones shut Russian airspace? Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russian airspace is effectively closed because of the volume of Ukrainian drones in the sky. On Tuesday, he said that Russia, which began the war with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is now "closing its own skies".

Ukraine's president has told airlines that Russian airspace will be effectively closing as his country escalates its drone strikes. We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous, Volodymyr Zelensky says. Most Western commercial airlines do not fly over Russia as a consequence of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, but carriers in countries such as China do. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying that Zelensky's comments amounted to a declaration of state terrorism, while adding that Russia would continue its own intensifying attacks on Ukraine. Explaining the elevated airspace risk, Zelensky said: Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation as such - not a single civilian aircraft.

A third Russian airfield is ablaze from a drone attack, a day after Ukraine demonstrated an apparent new ability to penetrate hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian airspace with attacks on two Russian air bases. A drone struck an airfield in the Russian region of Kursk bordering Ukraine, setting fire to an oil storage tank. Russia said three of its military personnel were killed in what it said were Ukrainian drone attacks on two Russian air bases hundreds of kilometres from the frontlines in Ukraine. Kyiv did not directly claim responsibility. Ukraine's military intelligence chief said Russia had enough high-precision missiles to conduct several more big air raids on Ukraine before it runs out of stock.