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Russia has vowed not to allow any disruption to civil aviation after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country’s incoming drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use.
Zelensky said Ukraine‘s response to Russian attacks meant “the war started by Russia is closing its own skies” but his forces are not targeting civil aviation.
Andrei Nikitin, Russia’s transport minister, said the country “will not allow any significant disruption to civil aviation”.
“We are constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have solutions for all of this,” he said, adding that the ministry of defence and the Russian National Guard have joined hands to work on threats from Kyiv.
Zelensky on Tuesday warned airlines and insurance companies the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian skies dangerous to use.
“Although Russian authorities are not properly announcing it, Russian airspace will effectively be closing,” he said.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 data showed disruptions yesterday at Moscow‘s main airport, while some airlines cancelled flights though they did not specify the reason for doing so.
The Kremlin said Germany was displaying an inconsistent and absurd position by choosing to shutter the Russian consulate in Bonn, a decision Berlin took after a drone incident at the Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Germany’s response measures included the closure of a Russian cultural centre in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn.
On Tuesday, president Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting evidence in order to blame Moscow for the incident.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 08:00
Ukraine is finalising a drone deal with Germany, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday after a call with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The agreement — proposed by Ukraine several months ago — is expected to cover the joint development of various types of drones, missiles and related software.
“Our teams are already finalising the text of the drone deal, and this will, among other things, definitely provide both Germany and Ukraine with additional defence capabilities,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.
The deal will build on existing German-Ukrainian defence cooperation, including a multi-million-euro programme to supply to Kyiv some 15,000 Strila interceptor drones designed to counter Shahed-type attack drones.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 07:44
Russia will shutter German cultural centres across the country, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said this morning.
The move comes after Berlin blamed Moscow for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month and announced the closure of both the Russian Consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in the German capital.
Lavrov said that cultural centres belonging to Germany’s Goethe-Institut would be closed in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, adding that any other response would show a lack of “self-respect” on Russia’s part.
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Lavrov said that Germany “could not have failed to understand” that the closure of the Russian House would “signify the end of their cultural presence in Russia.”
A drone laden with explosives was found near a Ukrainian plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on 4 August and later defused. The airport is a major international freight hub used for providing support to Ukraine.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 07:25
Volodymyr Zelensky has reacted furiously to the shootout in Kyiv between Ukraine’s intelligence agency GUR and security services SBU which reportedly left three officers injured.
The gunfire erupted when the SBU was taking into custody a leader of an anti-Kremlin Russian unit that fights for Ukraine under the watch of the GUR, leading to clashes between the two Ukrainian agencies.
The situation is “absolutely shameful”, Zelensky said.
“Here in Ukraine, shooting is only permissible at Russian occupiers in defence of Ukraine,” he said. “Our state will not perceive any other shootout as something that anyone is allowed to do,” Zelensky said.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 07:10
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said it can take Ukraine several years to start building Patriot air defence interceptors and doing so is not an immediate solution for Kyiv.
“I mean, these are highly sophisticated weaponry,” he told Fox News.
Rubio said the US is negotiating with Ukraine over licensed production of Patriot missiles.
“That may come to fruition, but it really won’t solve the short-term challenge that they’re pointing to,” he said. Rubio said the “whole world is asking for more air interceptors” but the US needs to fulfill its requirements first.
“It’s become the number one defence need on the planet, not just for Ukraine, but on the planet,” he said, including in the Middle East because of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 06:28
Russian air attacks wounded 17 people and damaged a 21-storey residential building in Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa in the early hours today, Serhiy Lysak, the head of the city’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Of those injured, three are children, Lysak said in the post, which showed footage of a building with its windows blown out.
In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a Reuters witness reported an explosion on Wednesday evening, amid continued Russian air strikes.
Ukrainian rescue personnel extinguish a fire in an auto parts warehouse following an air attack in Kyiv (AFP/Getty)
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 06:06
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 05:46
Norway on Wednesday said it had seized a Russian vessel at the request of Ukrainian state firm Naftogaz, to ensure that the Russian Federation meets its outstanding obligations, confirming an earlier statement by Naftogaz.
The Ukrainian company has been pursuing legal action against Russia since 2016 to seek compensation for Moscow’s expropriation of Naftogaz property when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
A tribunal in The Hague in April 2023 ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz $4.22bn plus interest and legal costs to compensate for assets it seized in Crimea, but Moscow has not done so.
Naftogaz said the seizure was ordered by the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court on 31 August.
It said the vessel, the professor Molchanov, was owned by Russia and used for commercial expedition cruises, including to the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard.
“Russia cannot evade responsibility simply by refusing to comply with an international arbitral award,” said Naftogaz acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 05:30
Russia vowed to head off any disruption to civil aviation on Wednesday after a warning by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that its drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use.
Zelensky has warned that Ukraine is responding to Russian attacks meant “the war started by Russia is closing its own skies” but his forces are not targeting civil aviation.
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.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 04:56
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 data showed disruptions yesterday at Moscow’s main airport, while some airlines cancelled flights though they did not specify the reason for doing so.
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.
“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,” they said.
Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines said it had cancelled some flights to Russia for “technical and operational” reasons, without giving further details.
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”.
Arpan Rai3 September 2026 04:42