Olga Lappo
Russian state Aeroflot airline has immediately canceled four flights to and from Ukraine after the Ukrainian government decided to ban flights by Russian airlines from October 25 as part of a wave of sanctions against Russia over its support for separatists in the east of the country.
In particular, as noted on electronic scoreboards at the airports, three flights to Kharkiv, and another one to Odesa have been canceled today and tomorrow.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on September 25, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced that in keeping with National Security and Defense Council decisions, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers had decided to toughen anti-Russian sanctions by banning flights carried out by Russian airlines, namely Aeroflot and Transaero. Ukraine also banned transit flights of Russian airlines through Ukrainian airspace "if they carry defense goods, duel-purpose equipment, or Russian military personnel," the press service said quoting Yatsenyuk who announced this decision at a recent Cabinet meeting.
On September 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko enacted a decision taken by the National Security and Defense Council on September 2 to introduce sanctions against about 400 individuals and more than 90 entities from the Russian Federation and other countries, who are involved in the annexation of Crimea and aggression in Donbas.