Moscow vows to avoid airspace disruption despite Zelenskiy's warning

MOSCOW/LONDON/DUBAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russia vowed to head off ‌any disruption to civil aviation ​on Wednesday ​after a warning by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that its drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use.

Zelenskiy warned airlines and insurance firms on Tuesday that the presence of Ukrainian drones as Ukraine responded to Russian attacks meant "the war started by Russia ‌is closing its own skies". He said he was not targeting civil aviation.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on ⁠Wednesday Ukraine had also officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace was not safe.

While European and U.S. carriers do not fly over Russia due to the war ‌that erupted when Russia invaded Ukraine in ‌February 2022, the airspace is used by airlines from countries such as China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states.

Andrei Nikitin, Russia's transport minister, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency: "We are constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have ​solutions for all of this."

"We are working in close contact with the Ministry of Defence and the Russian National Guard. And I believe that we will not allow any significant disruption to civil aviation,” he said.

Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia said in a statement that Ukrainian approaches to ⁠international aviation bodies "have no legal force and violate the Convention on International Civil Aviation".

"Russia's air transport and its ground infrastructure continue to operate according to plan, handling arrivals and departures, including flights ​by foreign airlines," it said.

SOME FLIGHTS CANCELLED

Flightradar24 data showed disruptions on Wednesday at Moscow's main airport, while some airlines cancelled flights though they did not specify the reason for doing so.

"We continue to closely monitor the evolving ​situation in the region and adjust our flight schedules and routings as necessary," airline ‌flydubai said in a statement.

"As the situation remains dynamic, our teams are continuously assessing operational requirements. We recognise that some delays and diversions may occur ... The safety of our customers and crew remains our highest priority."

Turkish carrier Pegasus ⁠Airlines said it had cancelled some flights to Russia for "technical and operational" reasons, without giving further details.

RUSSIAN ATTACKS ON KYIV

Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport showed 21 cancelled flights and 235 delays, while the city's Vnukovo airport had 22 cancelled flights and 94 delays, according to Flightradar24.

Vnukovo airport said Pegasus Airlines had cancelled six arriving and six departing ⁠flights at the hub on Tuesday. The carrier said overnight flights into Wednesday were impacted, but other ongoing flights were "operating as scheduled".

Other carriers that fly regularly to and ​over Russia, including Turkish Airlines, Qatar, Etihad and Emirates, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Zelenskiy in his nightly video address on Wednesday said that a number of airlines were not flying into Russia, describing such decisions as "the right and entirely logical response to everything that is happening".

Aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions ‌has said in an alert to clients that while the majority of Ukraine's drone and missile strikes were likely to occur within 300 km (185 miles) of the border, daily attacks deeper inside Russia were likely through 2026, ‌including near Moscow and St Petersburg.

Russia has stepped up its air attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks, with residents enduring the seventh day of intense ⁠assaults on the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday.

Ukraine has responded ‌with frequent drone strikes on Russian targets, many ​associated with the country's oil industry as well as retail sites.

(Reporting by Reuters, Federico Maccioni in Dubai, Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul, Joanna Plucinska in London; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Alison Williams, Ron Popeski ‌and Sanjeev Miglani)

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