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Volodymyr Zelensky has deemed Russian airspace to be “completely unsafe” in a warning to airlines ahead of Ukrainian drone attacks.
The president declared that “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over” in his nightly video address on Tuesday, adding that he did not want innocent lives to be lost.
“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing – the war started by Russia is closing its skies.
“We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” he said.
Vladimir Putin said the warning sounded like “state terrorism” and Moscow would find a way to respond.
Earlier today, Kyiv revealed its forces have trapped around 2,500 Russian soldiers on a tiny strip of land stretching into the Black Sea.
The troops are stranded on the occupied Kinburn Spit, a long ridge of sand which juts out from Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, Ukrainian commanders told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Crimea.Realities podcast.
Drone strikes have targeted deliveries of ammunition and food, a recconnaisance commander with the call sign ‘Yava’ said on the podcast according to United24.
Russia suggests possible three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has said there could be a trilateral meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin, US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China is set to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen in November.
The possibility of a three-way meeting between the leaders is being considered ahead of the summit, he said.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 07:57
Putin says it’s a ‘military secret’ whether Russia could strike UK facilities
President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s thinking on possible strikes against UK military facilities was “secret”.
Asked at a press conference in Kyrgyzstan whether Russia was considering strikes on British military assets, Putin said simply: “It is a military secret.”
Last week, Russia warned that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Britain was just “one step away” from becoming legally complicit in what she called “terrorism” against Russian civilians, and warned of “inevitable catastrophic consequences” unless the UK changed course.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 07:39
‘Where there were bombs, there are now sunflowers’: The woman ridding Ukraine of Russian mines
Every morning, Antonina Kulhava wakes up to the whirr of Russian drones.
After checking local alerts to ensure her family and friends are safe, she commutes to her job as a humanitarian deminer at one of Ukraine’s many fields littered with bombs. Her team face grave danger as they comb through craters of mud left by missiles, in fields once tilled by farmers.
Ukraine is one of the world’s most heavily mined countries with between 20 to 25 per cent of its surface covered with potentially dangerous weapons. This amounts to more than 139,000 square kilometres of land, a size larger than England and Wales combined.
The existence of these mines is devastating for civilians, contributing to one of the world’s highest rates of civilian casualties. Children are among those at risk if the mines are not safely cleared.
“It’s an interesting and challenging job,” she tells The Independent.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 06:53
Russia and US see grounds for financial ties, says finance minister
Dialogue between Russia and the US should continue to find common ground in economics, which should make it easier to discuss political issues, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said.
Siluanov said both nations agree that there are grounds for developing financial ties despite complications, after his bilateral meeting with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Monday.
Siluanov, who said he was meeting with Bessent for the first time, said he believed that people from the financial world sometimes may find common understanding faster than politicians.
“So we must always keep talking; we need to continue the dialogue. If we find strong points of common interest – and they do exist – we need to develop them. Then political issues will also be easier to resolve,” he said,
However, a source familiar with the ministers’ meeting said Bessent made clear to Siluanov no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were possible until its war in Ukraine ends, reported Reuters.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 06:37
An explosion has been heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Wednesday morning, witnesses said.
Renewed Russian strikes would make this the seventh consecutive day of attacks on the city.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 06:11
Zelensky confirms Trump’s request to pause strikes on Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces held back on attacks on Russia last week in response to a request from the Trump administration.
“When the Americans asked us to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg on 25, 26 and 27 August, we observed that pause. There were no strikes on Russia, while strikes on Ukraine continued,” he said.
Stating that Ukraine supports every move in the direction of peace, Zelensky said: “When another global power asked us to pause strikes in the direction of Vladivostok for a specified period of time, we agreed to ensure that as well. New meetings in Moscow are now being prepared, and we will take that into account.”
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:52
Zelensky declares Russian airspace ‘completely unsafe’ ahead of drone attack
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned airlines that Russia’s airspace is “completely unsafe” amid Ukrainian drone strikes.
The Ukrainian president issued the warning in his nightly video address, saying he did not want innocent lives to be lost, but “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over.”
“Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe.
“Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation as such – not a single civilian aircraft. There will simply be drones in Russia’s skies on a scale that has to be taken into account.
“Although the Russian authorities are not properly informing people about this, Russian airspace will effectively be closing – the war started by Russia is closing its skies.
“It is important that this is heard by the ambassadors of countries represented here in Ukraine, as well as by ambassadors working in Moscow.
“It is important that the airlines currently flying to airports primarily in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other key destinations in Russia hear this as well.”
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:34
Kremlin adviser and papal envoy to discuss Ukraine humanitarian issues
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov will discuss humanitarian issues in the Ukraine conflict with papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi later this month in Russia, Ushakov was quoted by media as saying on Tuesday.
“I will receive him at the end of September, and we will specifically talk about Ukrainian matters,” Russian news agencies said Ushakov told state television.
“Zuppi has come to us several times. He mainly deals with humanitarian issues and we will continue discussing those. Of course, the political side of things is involved too. You can’t get around it.”
Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops conference, last visited Moscow in October 2024 for talks about family reunification, prisoner of war exchanges and prospects for dialogue about ending the war in Ukraine.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 05:00
Are there airspace risks to Russian skies as stated by Zelensky?
The full risk of Ukrainian drones to aviation over Russia, the world’s largest country by land mass, is not clear, but there have been deadly incidents of civilian aircraft being mistakenly targeted in the region.
Aviation risk advisory firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in an alert to clients that while the majority of Ukraine’s drone and missile strikes were likely to occur within 300km (186 miles) of the border, daily attacks deeper inside Russia were near-certain through 2026, including near Moscow and St Petersburg.
“There is also a realistic possibility that the frequency of Ukrainian strikes will continue to increase in the short term deep inside Russian territory,” the alert said.
“It is assessed that miscalculation and/or misidentification is likely in areas related to the Ukraine conflict.”
Osprey said Russian military air defences included conventional surface-to-air missile systems capable at all altitudes.
Last year, Europe’s top rights court found Russia responsible for the downing of a Malaysian jetliner in 2014 at cruising altitude over eastern Ukraine where there was fighting.
A flying missile seen during a Russian aerial attack in Kyiv (AFP/Getty)
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 04:36
Putin says Moscow open to talks to end war
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow was open to talks aimed at ending, rather than freezing, the war, and restated its willingness to talk to US president Donald Trump’s envoys.
“If someone makes, or can make, a tangible contribution to this process, we are all in favour,” Putin said.
“The only thing we would want to avoid is the process spinning its wheels pointlessly. However, if someone is capable of bringing something positive to these negotiations – which, as we understand it, are currently somewhat frozen – then, generally speaking, we are not opposed.”
Putin specifically acknowledged that Ukrainian drone strikes had caused damage to Russian oil refineries, although without referring to widespread fuel shortages that have resulted from those attacks.
But he said that the level of protection had improved, and “we only have 10 per cent of our refineries left to repair”.
Arpan Rai2 September 2026 04:23