Russia extends ban on civilians on 11 airports till May 1 amidst Ukraine war

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency has extended temporary flight restrictions at 11 airports in the southern and central parts of the country until May 1. The restrictions have been in place since the start of Vladimir Putin’s ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine and an extension to the same indicates that a peace treaty wasn’t in sight. While the airports in Belgorod, Bryansk, and other southern cities have been completely shut off for civilians, the ones in the other parts of the country are operating adequately.

"Temporary flight restrictions at 11 Russian airports have been extended until 03:45 Moscow time on May 1, 2022. Flights to the airports of Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol are temporarily restricted and Elista," a statement from the agency said. "Russian airlines are recommended to organize the transportation of passengers on alternative routes using the airports of Sochi, Volgograd, Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol, and Moscow," it added. 

Russia announced restrictions on flight operations on February 24

Earlier, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) had extended the ban on flights to 11 airports in central and southern Russia until April 1, as per the Interfax report. The Russian Air Transport Agency had restricted flight operations to airports in the Russian cities of Anapa, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Kursk, Lipetsk, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol and Elista. The agency had recommended the airlines to use alternative routes and operate flights through airports of Sochi, Volgograd, Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol, and Moscow. 

It has been 60 days since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his special military operation in Ukraine. Amidst the bloodshed, an EU analysis has revealed that France, Germany, and at least 10 other European nations sold £230million worth of military hardware and defensive kits to Moscow which were used by Kremlin during the war in Ukraine. The selling of the weapon systems was apparently ‘illegal’ under the EU embargo that bans the arms sale to Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russians. Primarily,  France, Germany, and Italy have exploited the loophole in the arms embargo and exported missiles, rockets, guns, and bombs to Moscow, as first reported by UK’s The Telegraph. 

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