Zelenskyy declares “battle in the sky” as key to Ukraine war outcome

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decisive stage of Russia’s war against Ukraine has shifted from the land and sea domains to the air, arguing that the “battle in the sky” will ultimately determine the conflict's outcome.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) on July 6, hours after a large-scale Russian attack on Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had already prevented Russia from achieving victory on the battlefield and had pushed the Russian fleet away from much of the western Black Sea, making airspace the key arena of confrontation.

“Today I believe victory in this war belongs to whoever is smarter,” Zelenskyy stressed. “If you stop the enemy on the battlefield, if you stop the war on land, and if you deny him dominance at sea — as we did with our naval drones, driving the Russian fleet away — then the next battlefield becomes the sky.”

The Ukrainian leader emphasised that Russia’s advantages in territory and manpower would matter less in the new phase of the war. “And frankly, in that contest it matters far less whose territory is larger,” he said. “We have moved into the air domain. And in the air, we are already competitive.”

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine’s ability to develop and deploy long-range drones had significantly changed the dynamics of the conflict, allowing Kyiv to strike military and energy targets deep inside Russian territory and weaken Moscow’s ability to sustain its war effort.

However, he pointed to one major vulnerability that could still influence the course of the war — Ukraine’s air defence capabilities.

“There remains only one unknown,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is anti-ballistic defence. That is the major weakness [for Ukraine] in this equation.”

The Ukrainian president connected this vulnerability to Kyiv’s decision in the 1990s to surrender the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from Western countries and Russia.

“Without nuclear weapons, you are no longer part of the club that others fear attacking,” Zelenskyy said. “Instead, you become part of the club that can be attacked.”

Despite continued Russian missile and drone attacks, Zelenskyy expressed confidence that Ukraine could withstand the pressure and eventually prevail.

“If our partners do not abandon Ukraine financially, if our soldiers continue holding the front, if every kilometre of Russian advance continues to cost them tens of thousands — and sometimes hundreds of thousands — of personnel, then the decisive struggle will take place in the skies,” he added.

Zelenskyy also addressed Ukrainian strikes on Crimea, saying they had targeted Russian military facilities, logistics networks, air defence systems, and energy infrastructure on the peninsula.

According to the Ukrainian president, the strikes against Russian targets are aimed at showing Moscow the consequences of continuing the war. He added that increasing attacks on Russian territory could affect the Kremlin’s assessment of the conflict and potentially become a factor contributing to its resolution.

By Jeyhun Aghazada