Russia bans flights over part of Crimea, Black Sea

Photo from UNIAN

Russia has imposed restrictions on flights over part of Crimea and the Black Sea from April 20 to April 24.

That's according to Russian news agency Interfax with reference to Notices for Airmen (NOTAMs).

"The area has been declared temporarily dangerous for aircraft flights," the report says.

Read alsoU.S. urges Russia to cease blocking navigation near Crimea, reverse build-up of forces along Ukraine's borderThe airspace over the southern part of Crimea (from Sevastopol to Feodosia), territorial waters adjacent to the southern coast of Crimea, as well as over part of the international waters of the Black Sea is included in the flight restriction zone up to an altitude of 19,000 meters.

Restricted navigation in the Black Sea: What is known

• On April 15, 2021, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry voiced protest to the Russian Federation over restrictions of navigation in the Black Sea amid the transfer of warships from the Caspian Sea.
• Ukrainian diplomats urge international partners to step up political and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation to prevent the escalation of the situation in the Azov-Black Sea region.
• "The Russian Federation announced that it would close from next week to October some part of the Black Sea waters in the direction of the Kerch Strait for warships and state ships of other countries under the pretext of military exercises. Such actions by Russia are another attempt to violate the norms and principles of international law, usurp Ukraine's sovereign rights as a coastal state, since it is Ukraine that is authorized to regulate navigation in that part of the Black Sea," the Ukrainian ministry said in a statement.
• It also notes the relevant step is a gross violation of the right to freedom of navigation guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).