Hundreds of flights canceled in Russia after Ukrainian airspace declarations

From Moscow airports to Sochi airports, via Saratov and Nijni Novgorod… For the second night in a row, hundreds of flights were canceled or postponed in Russia, between Wednesday September 2 and Thursday September 3. Ukrainian drone flights cause frequent interruptions of air traffic departing from and arriving at major Russian airports. Once again, the "carpet" procedure, which provides for the closure of the airspace, was triggered, due to devices detected in the direction of the capital.

But this time, the context is different, marked by an ambiguous statement from the Ukrainian president. Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday evening that "the safe days in Russian skies are over." While specifying that civil aviation was not targeted "per se", the leader also considered that it had "no place in a sky infested with drones". And he called on airlines serving airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities to hear "this message."

In the process, several companies, including Turkey's Pegasus Airlines, announced a handful of cancellations, citing "technical and operational" reasons. Operations were particularly disrupted at Moscow airports, and the mayor announced the destruction of around ten drones which were heading towards the capital. Around 80 flights were delayed or canceled, according to the estimate of some media outlets on Telegram.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriï Sybiha, hit the nail on the head on Wednesday, in an equally ambiguous formulation. He announced that he had officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace was becoming “increasingly dangerous”. The Russian federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia, immediately rejected this notification issued by Ukraine, calling it illegal, and sent its own notification to the flight crews. The authority also assured that airports continued to welcome flights, including those of foreign companies.

Risk of civil aircraft hit “increasing”

“If this was said out loud, it is quite simply a declaration of state terrorism,” Russian President Vladimir Putin had already reacted Tuesday evening, when questioned at a press conference. “We have answers to all the threats made by terrorists,” responded Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin during a trip to Vladivostok. The International Civil Aviation Organization, for its part, estimated that “the risk of civilian aircraft being targeted or caught in exchanges of fire is increasing.” She considered it essential that Member States assess the safety of the airspace “which they control and take all appropriate measures”.

Eleven Russian airports (Belgorod, Krasnodar, Rostov, etc.) were closed after the start of the war, and no plane, not even domestic, circulates in the border territories. Airlines from the European Union and the United States, for their part, no longer use Russian airspace. But in recent months, almost daily waves of drones have struck targets located on Russian territory, sometimes several hundred kilometers from the Ukrainian border.