Who is Zelensky threatening in Russian skies?

The Ukrainian leader has warned “every airline” using Russian airspace as Kiev steps up its long-range drone campaign Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has warned “every airline” using Russian airspace that the “safe days” are over, as Kiev looks to deploy swarms of drones to disrupt air travel in the country.

He warned foreign airlines, insurers and governments on Tuesday that Ukraine’s expanding long-range drone campaign would increasingly endanger civilian flights over Russia, specifically pointing to flights to Moscow, St.

Petersburg and other major cities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the statement a move toward “state terrorism” and warned that Moscow would respond if Kiev’s threats resulted in tragedy.

But who exactly is Zelensky threatening, how many people could be affected, and can Ukraine really shut Russian skies? How many people fly in Russia? Despite Western sanctions and airspace restrictions imposed after 2022, Russia still has one of the world’s largest civilian aviation networks.

Russian airlines carried around 50 million passengers in the first half of 2026, including more than 36 million on domestic routes and almost 13 million internationally, amounting to roughly 272,000 passenger journeys every day.

Foreign airlines are expected to carry around 26 million passengers on Russian routes this year.

As for foreign passengers, nearly 3 million tourist visits were also recorded in the first half of 2026, or roughly 16,500 per day.

And that’s not counting the number of foreign business travelers, workers, students and other visitors.

What airlines still operate in Russia? Many international airlines have halted flights to Russia after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, as Western countries closed their airspace to Russian carriers and Moscow imposed reciprocal restrictions.

The move sharply reduced direct connections with Europe and North America, but Russia remains linked to dozens of countries.

Airlines from Türkiye, Serbia, China, the Gulf, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Africa continue to operate.

Türkiye, Uzbekistan and the UAE alone account for more than half of Russia’s direct international flights.

Turkish Airlines and Pegasus remain major foreign carriers, while Uzbekistan Airways, Qanot Sharq and Centrum Air operate extensive links with Central Asia.