Three Pegasus flights already in the air toward Moscow turned back mid-route on 2 September 2026, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned airlines and insurers that Russian airspace "is becoming completely unsafe," United24Media and Airways Magazine reported. Pegasus went on to cancel a dozen additional Moscow and St. Petersburg services; Turkish Airlines canceled four Moscow flights of its own, while its low-cost subsidiary AJet kept its schedule unchanged. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha formally notified the International Civil Aviation Organization the same day, calling it a caution notice rather than a binding airspace closure.
Three flights turned around, then the cancellations spread
PC1456 (Bodrum-Moscow), PC1521 (Izmir-Moscow), and PC1576 (Antalya-Moscow) were diverted before reaching Russian airspace, United24Media reported; one Antalya-Moscow service was redirected to Istanbul instead, per Airways Magazine. Pegasus then canceled twelve further flights at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport - six arrivals and six departures - connecting Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir, and Dalaman with Moscow and St. Petersburg. A Pegasus representative told stranded passengers that "the Turkish side is prohibiting departures," while the airline's own public statement attributed the cancellations to "technical and operational reasons" rather than security concerns, per Airways Magazine.
The disruption reached beyond the two Turkish carriers. Flightradar24 data cited by Airways Magazine showed 22 cancellations and 94 delays at Vnukovo, and 235 delays at Sheremetyevo. Russian domestic reporting, separately, put the overnight total near 80 flights delayed or canceled across Moscow's three main airports. Vnukovo briefly imposed its own overnight security restrictions, which Russia's aviation regulator Rosaviatsia lifted around 6 a.m. Moscow time, per Meduza.
Zelensky's warning, and Putin's response
Zelensky delivered the warning in his 1 September evening address: "The safe moments in Russian skies are over," he said, per Meduza, adding, per Airways Magazine, that "there will be drones in Russia's skies, and this must be taken into account" - while stressing Ukraine does not threaten civilian aviation "as such - not a single civilian aircraft." Russian President Vladimir Putin called the remarks "a bid for state terrorism," per Meduza. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 130 Ukrainian drones across eleven regions overnight - a figure reported by Airways Magazine and United24Media as Russia's own, unverified count.
What is not established
Pegasus has not publicly confirmed that Zelensky's warning, rather than routine operational caution, drove its decision to cancel or divert flights - the airline's own stated reason was technical and operational, not security-related. No outlet has confirmed whether the diverted flights encountered any actual drone activity en route, or whether the cancellations reflect a specific threat assessment rather than a precautionary response to Zelensky's public statement.
Track what comes next
Ukraine's ICAO notification is a caution, not a closure - Sybiha's own framing leaves room for airlines to resume service at their own risk assessment. See AirVeto's full incident archive for the airspace events near NATO's eastern flank that sit behind episodes like this one. If Pegasus or Turkish Airlines formally confirm or deny a security rationale, or if further airlines follow, this brief will be updated.