Airports In Moscow, The Volga Region, And Southern Russia Have Been Paralyzed Following Warnings From Zelenskyy
- 3.09.2026, 9:32
The second night in a row.
Moscow airports Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo suspended operations for the second night in a row following warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the dangers of Russian airspace to civil aviation, according to The Moscow Times.
On September 2, Rosaviatsiya announced the introduction of temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft.
The night before, operations were suspended at three airports in the Russian capital. According to the Flightradar24 monitoring service, 21 flights were canceled and another 235 were delayed at Sheremetyevo, while at Vnukovo, 22 flights were canceled and 94 were delayed.
After midnight on the night of September 3, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that ten UAVs flying toward the Russian capital had been destroyed by the Russian Ministry of Defense’s air defense forces.
At the same time, Rosaviatsiya stated that temporary restrictions had been imposed on the arrival and departure of aircraft at Zhukovsky Airport (Ramenskoye), while Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports are handling arrivals and departures in coordination with the relevant authorities.
The restrictions also extended southward to the Volga region: at 1:24 a.m. on September 3, they were introduced at the airports in Gelendzhik and Sochi, and at 3:50 a.m. in Penza and Saratov.
Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurers
About the risks for carriers that continue to use key Russian hubs, the President of Ukraine said in a statement on September 1.
“Today we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses key Russian airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely dangerous. Ukraine poses no threat to civil aviation as such—not to a single civilian aircraft. It’s just that there will be drones in Russian airspace, and this must be taken into account,” Zelenskyy stated.
At the same time, the president allows for exceptions at the request of partners—previously, Ukraine paused its strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on August 25, 26, and 27, even though Russia continued to attack Ukrainian cities.
“When another world power asked us to suspend strikes toward Vladivostok for a certain period of time—we will ensure that as well. New meetings are currently being prepared in Moscow—we will take that into account. We need an end to the war, and the leaders are right to tell Putin this. Therefore, for the sake of diplomacy, for the sake of negotiations—when our partners approach us on this matter—we will ensure that Russian airspace is cleared of drones for specific periods of time and in specific directions,” he said.
The warning then extended to international institutions. On September 2, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga reported that Kyiv had officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the dangers posed by Russian airspace.
At the same time, Ukraine asked the ICAO to urge member states to completely ban civilian aircraft from flying in Russian airspace. According to Reuters, citing a letter from Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk, Kyiv considers it necessary to minimize the risk of tragedies.