Airport closures amid claims of "safe skies," a LizaAlert gasoline request, and a ship's arrest in Spitsbergen: overnight news
Russia has imposed extensive flight restrictions in many regions, while authorities claim the air is "safe." Meanwhile, the Irkutsk snow field continues to melt vegetable gardens, searchers are asking for gasoline ahead of schedule, and a Norwegian court has seized a Russian research vessel following a lawsuit filed by Ukraine.
Airport closures and the "safe skies" debate
Russian presidential advisor Anton Kobyakov publicly declared Russian airspace completely safe. However, on the night of September 3 alone, air defense systems destroyed 20 drones approaching Moscow, while the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) implemented the "Carpet" plan and temporary restrictions on arrivals and departures at Zhukovsky, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo airports. Similar restrictions were also imposed on airports in Sochi, Gelendzhik, Penza, and Saratov.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines and insurers that "Russian skies are becoming completely unsafe." Vladimir Putin, in turn, called these words "an application for state terrorism."
A dirty landfill in Irkutsk and a fuel shortage at LizaAlert
Irkutsk residents have once again reported dirty water flowing from the municipal snow dump into the Kaya River, flooding vegetable gardens, and washing out a road. Specifically, the city administration has still not complied with the court's orders issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the West Baikal Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office and has failed to bring the snow dump site into compliance with environmental standards. This problem has been unresolved since 2024.
Consequently, volunteers also faced serious problems. Volunteers from the LizaAlert search team in the Sverdlovsk region appealed to Governor Denis Pasler to allow their vehicles to refuel at gas stations without waiting in line. The volunteers reported that during the peak season for searching for missing people in the forests, their missions are at risk of being disrupted, as drivers are forced to either spend hours in kilometer-long lines or find fuel at inflated prices.
Lavrov's statements, the Simonyan Prize, and the arrest of a ship in Spitsbergen
Nevertheless, the foreign policy rhetoric remains the same. Russia is not building walls and has no intention of isolating itself from Europe, stated Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Europe has shut us out, deciding that our cooperation in previous years was so important to the Russian Federation that we'll run and beg. That won't happen; it's completely outside our nation's DNA.
Meanwhile, propagandist Margarita Simonyan won the Book of the Year award for her novel "In the Beginning Was the Word—In the End Will Be the Number." The book is a post-apocalyptic retelling of the Gospel: after a nuclear war, the world is ruled by artificial intelligence, the protagonist is named Alpha Omega and turns out to be Christ, Einstein, Hitler, and Judas are resurrected, and the AI ultimately reveals itself to be Satan. Simonyan herself calls this novel "the main work of her life."
At the same time, international legal proceedings have led to the seizure of property. A Norwegian court, following a lawsuit filed by the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, has seized the Russian research and expedition vessel Professor Molchanov. As a result, the vessel is unable to leave the port of Barentsburg on Spitsbergen. The restrictive measures are aimed at enforcing an international arbitration award ordering Russia to pay $4,22 billion in compensation for the seizure of assets in Crimea following the annexation.
