Russia’s transport minister on Zelensky’s threats to make Russian airspace unsafe — ‘We’re preparing for this’
Andrey Nikitin, head of Russia’s Transport Ministry, said Russian aviation authorities will not allow any “significant disruptions” to civil aviation, responding to threats from Ukrainian President Zelensky to make Russian airspace unsafe through drone attacks.
“Of course, we’re preparing for this and taking all these threats into account. We’re constantly improving flight safety and airport security requirements, and we have answers for all of it. We have answers for all these threats the terrorists are voicing,” the Russian news agency Interfax quoted Nikitin as saying.
The Transport Ministry works “in close contact” with the Defense Ministry and the Russian National Guard, he said.
“I think that we won’t allow any significant disruptions in civil aviation. There will definitely be “Carpets”, of course, because passenger safety is paramount. But we will unequivocally handle this in the coming years,” Nikitin added.
Volodymyr Zelensky warned airlines on the evening of September 1 that Russian airspace “is becoming unsafe,” saying “drones will appear in Russian skies in a way that will have to be reckoned with.” Ukraine, he said, “does not threaten civil aviation as such,” but Ukrainian drone attacks would mean “Russian airspace will de facto be closing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Zelensky’s statement “a bid for state terrorism.”
Turkish airline Pegasus began canceling flights to and from Moscow after Zelensky’s statement.
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