The Estonian authorities have decided to close their airspace to aircraft of Russian airlines, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Taavi Aas said. The decision was made due to the fact that Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine. According to the Minister of Justice Janis Bordans, Latvia will also close the airspace for Russia, reports Interfax.
“Estonia joins the Polish initiative and intends to ban all Russian airlines from using our airspace. We are preparing a proposal for an appropriate decision, after which it is planned to close the airspace. I urge our Baltic colleagues to do the same in order to cut off Russia from European airspace,” Mr. Aas told the Estonian broadcasting portal ERR (quote from the agency “Prime”).
Earlier, due to the start of a military operation, the UK, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine closed their airspace for Russia. The military operation in Ukraine continues for the third day. During this time, the Ukrainian army has suffered losses, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said. In his address to the nation, he informedthat the Ukrainian army would not lay down their arms, and also confirmed that he was in Kyiv. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation does not report losses on its part. According to the official representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov, the Russian military has established full control over the city of Melitopol.
