Zelenskyy warns airlines as Ukrainian drone surge makes Russian airspace unsafe

Ukraine has formally notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace is "not safe" after a marked increase in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the surge makes the skies over Russia unsuitable for civilian aviation and warned airlines to stay away.

"We in Ukraine do not want innocent lives to be lost. That is why we are warning our partners: the safe days in Russia's skies are over," Zelenskyy said. "Drone-infested skies are no place for civilian aviation. The sky over Russia is currently for drones ... as long as the war continues."

The Ukrainian government has asked the ICAO to prohibit member states from using Russian airspace, though the agency has not yet responded. While European and U.S. carriers already avoid Russian routes, airlines from China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations continue to use the airspace.

The warning comes amid intensified fighting: Russian drones struck Kyiv for a seventh consecutive day, injuring seven people and damaging residential and university buildings, and attacks on the southern Odesa region left more than 350,000 homes without power. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, two civilians were killed and eight wounded.

Ukraine also reported that its long-range drones have been targeting Russian energy and military infrastructure, with President Zelenskyy indicating that up to 1,000 drones could be deployed daily. Russia's aviation authority has repeatedly closed its own airports in response to Ukrainian drone activity.