Moscow Dismisses Ukraine’s Airspace Warning as Fact‑Twisting, Stresses Civil Aviation Safety

The Russian Foreign Ministry erupted on Friday, insisting that Kyiv’s recent notice – which warned airlines that Russian airspace was no longer safe for civilian traffic – was nothing more than a distortion of facts. In a statement posted on its official website, Moscow said the claim misleads users of Russian air routes and carries absolutely no legal force.

According to the ministry, the Ukrainian warning represents a “reckless terrorist act” that flies in the face of international law. It added that the remarks pose a direct threat to civil aviation, prompting Russian authorities to get in touch with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and to lodge an urgent appeal with the ICAO secretary‑general.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking a day earlier, warned international carriers that Russian skies were becoming “completely unsafe” amid what Kyiv described as an escalation in missile and drone strikes. The two sides are now locked in a war of words, each accusing the other of endangering passengers and crew.

On the ground, Russian officials reported a spate of attacks originating from Ukrainian forces. Belgorod’s acting governor, Alexander Shuvayev, said his region endured 178 strikes in a single 24‑hour period, including artillery barrages and drone hits that left one civilian dead and 21 injured. In Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed the city’s air‑defence network shot down 548 hostile drones between Wednesday morning and Thursday noon, while a separate drone strike sparked a fire at a plant in the Bogorodsky district.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin used the episode to reaffirm Russia’s openness to peace talks. He dismissed rumours of a new mobilisation as “nonsense” and said Moscow would welcome any concrete steps that could bring a lasting, comprehensive settlement to the conflict, while respecting the positions of nations that back a diplomatic resolution.