Ukraine’s Next Goal Is to Shut Down Russia’s Commercial Airspace

JUST IN: Zelensky says foreign airlines have begun suspending flights over Russia after a Ukrainian warning, as Kyiv moves to shut down Russia's commercial airspace.

Foreign airlines are pulling out of Russian skies, and Kyiv says that's the plan.

President Zelensky says carriers have begun suspending flights over Russia after a warning from Ukraine. The stated goal is blunt, shut down Russia's commercial airspace entirely. Not a base, not a refinery, the air itself.

Think about what that means in practice. Every airline flying over Russian territory now has to weigh a route against a warning from a country actively striking targets inside that territory. Insurers read those warnings too, and insurers move faster than governments.

Russia is the biggest country on Earth, and overflight fees and transit routes are real money for Moscow. If the airlines keep walking, Ukraine will have closed eleven time zones of sky without firing at a single passenger jet. The warning did the work.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.