The Russian Government accused this Wednesday the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, of carrying out “blackmail” with his warnings to civil aviation in Russian airspace amid the increase in drone attacks by Ukrainian troops against the Eurasian country.
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“These statements, disguised as concern, with warnings to airlines and international insurers, are in fact blackmail, a declaration of intent and the legalization of state-level aerial terrorism,” said the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
Thus, she emphasized that Kiev “tries to compensate for its failures and defeats” on the ground with “a step towards intimidation tactics against the civilian population and Russia’s international partners”, before reiterating that Zelensky’s words “constitute a direct threat to destroy passenger planes with Ukrainian drones.”
Zakharova also maintained that, with his recent statements, the Ukrainian leader paves the way to “reduce his responsibility, pass it on to anyone else and present everything as an accident or merely a cost of the conflict,” according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
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Zelensky warned last week that “Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” before arguing that “Ukraine does not threaten civil aviation as such.” “There will simply be drones in Russian airspace on a scale that must be taken into account,” he added.
“An airspace infested with drones is no place for civil aviation,” argued the Ukrainian president, who maintained that “this escalation cannot and will not be confined to Ukrainian territory.” “It is absolutely natural and fair that the consequences also extend to Russia, including its airspace, which already is and increasingly will be space for our drones and missiles, which actively and justly respond to the Russian war,” he concluded.
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