Russian transportation authorities on Wednesday vowed to prevent any disruptions to domestic air travel after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the day before that Kyiv's drone attacks were making Russian airspace too dangerous for flying.
Transportation Minister Andrei Nikitin said that civil aviation authorities are "constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have solutions for all of this," as quoted by the news agency Interfax.
"We are working in close contact with the Defense Ministry and the Russian National Guard. And I believe that we will not allow any significant disruption to civil aviation," Nikitin added.
Following Zelensky's warning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv had officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization that Russian airspace is unsafe for commercial flights.
Those comments appeared to have an almost immediate impact on air travel inside Russia. On Wednesday, Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport showed 21 canceled flights and 235 delays, while Vnukovo airport saw 22 canceled flights and 94 delays, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar24.
