Ukraine has officially warned the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that Russian airspace is dangerous for civil flights due to active hostilities, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
"We want to prevent unintentional incidents", Sibiga wrote in Ex and added: "The war is returning to Russia. Ukraine is exercising its inalienable right to self-defense under Art. 51 of the UN Charter".
Ukraine has asked ICAO to ban its member states from using Russian airspace, according to a letter sent by the Ukrainian government to the organization, which Reuters obtained access to today.
Russia will not allow Ukraine to seriously disrupt civil aviation activities despite the threat of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
Zelensky warned airlines and insurance companies yesterday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian airspace dangerous to use, which he said was effectively closed.
"Of course, we are preparing for this and taking into account all these threats. We are constantly improving flight safety requirements and airport security, and we have solutions for all this. "We have solutions to all the threats that terrorists make," Nikitin said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Zelensky's warning sounded as if Ukraine intended to commit "state terrorism". Moscow will find a way to respond if that happens, he added.
Yesterday, Putin also acknowledged that Ukrainian drone attacks had damaged about 100 Russian ships, but said Kiev had not caused the country "critical damage".
"I think they have caused us real damage," Putin admitted to the media in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. "People have died, sailors, including foreigners", he added, noting that citizens of Azerbaijan and Turkey were among those killed.
Putin said preliminary estimates put the total damage caused by the attacks so far at about 1% of Russia's gross domestic product. "This is not critical damage for us," he stressed.
Ukraine has been striking oil tankers and grain ships in the Black Sea and the neighboring Sea of Azov as part of its campaign against Russia. Kiev has also significantly increased its long-range drone strikes deep inside Russian territory, repeatedly attacking oil refineries and logistics centers.
Putin said the defense of Russian refineries had been significantly improved. The companies had previously complained that the Russian state had failed to guarantee their security despite repeated assurances from the president.
Ukraine is seeking to damage the Russian economy and make it harder for Moscow to finance its military efforts. Putin repeated comments from a recent interview, accusing Kiev of "opening Pandora's box" with the attacks, and threatened even more destructive Russian air strikes in response.