Photo from UNIAN
The two Ukrainian airlines will be banned from flying over the territory of the Russian Federation, Russian information agency TASS reported referring to a statement of Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov made Saturday to Russia's TV channel.
"Certainly, the Russian aviation authorities will take absolutely the same measures. As of today we have not yet received an official explanation or formal prohibitions from Ukraine, but as soon as we receive them, we will introduce retaliatory measures, and two Ukrainian airlines will not be allowed to fly to Russia either," the minister said.
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.