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Russia’s War Is Closing Its Own Skies as Airport Shutdowns Hit 993 in One Month
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia’s civilian aviation network suffered record disruption in August as Ukrainian drone operations repeatedly forced airports to suspend flights, with nearly 1,000 temporary closures recorded in a single month even before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly declared Russian airspace increasingly unsafe.
According to The Wall Street Journal, citing aviation-security firm Osprey Flight Solutions, Russian airports were temporarily shut 993 times during August—more than a third above the July figure, WSJ reported on September 3.
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On an average day, drone threats forced temporary restrictions at 32 airports across Russia, including major aviation hubs around Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The disruption over the summer has already surpassed the total recorded during all of last year.
From June through August, Russia experienced 2,182 temporary airport shutdowns. By comparison, 1,923 such cases were recorded throughout the entirety of 2025.
At the same time, Ukrainian drones are entering Russian-controlled airspace in unprecedented numbers.
Osprey estimated that around 16,000 Ukrainian drones crossed into Russian airspace in August, much of which Moscow continues to keep open to civilian aircraft.
Around 11,000 drones were recorded in June and more than 13,000 in July. Earlier in 2026, monthly totals generally remained between 4,000 and 5,000, apart from May, when the figure rose to 7,544.
The rising number of UAVs, combined with Russian air defenses attempting to intercept them and widespread GPS interference, is increasingly complicating civilian aviation.
Ukraine fully closed its own airspace to commercial traffic when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Moscow, by contrast, has kept most of Russia’s airspace open, restricting civilian flights primarily in regions closer to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy warned international airlines and insurers on September 1 that the risks of continuing to operate in Russian airspace were mounting.
“Although the Russian authorities do not report this as they should, the Russian sky will de facto be closed: the war unleashed by Russia is closing its sky,” Zelenskyy said.
He stressed that Ukraine does not target civilian aviation.
“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,” the Ukrainian President stated.
It was from Russia that the first missiles and the first drones came, and they crossed our country’s border from Russian airspace. This escalation cannot and will not remain confined to Ukrainian territory.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 1, 2026
Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every…
Ukraine has also formally raised the issue with the International Civil Aviation Organization, arguing that Russia’s decision to keep civilian aircraft operating amid increasing military activity creates unnecessary risks.
Russian officials insist they will prevent major disruption.
“We are constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have solutions for all of this. We will not allow any significant disruption to civil aviation,” Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said.
The operational figures, however, are moving in the opposite direction.
In the first three days of September alone, Russian airlines canceled an average of 86 flights per day, according to Flightradar24.
August exceeded that level on only two individual days—August 10, when 104 flights were canceled, and August 18, when 93 were called off.
Earlier, Turkey’s largest private airline, Pegasus Airlines, turned several Moscow-bound aircraft around mid-flight and canceled dozens of services to Russia overnight, amid drone-related disruptions at Russian airports and warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the growing risks of operating in Russian airspace.
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