Ukraine on Sunday advised airlines to avoid flying over the open waters of the Black Sea from Monday to Saturday due to Russian naval exercises taking place there.
By Sunday afternoon air traffic had dropped over Ukraine and intensified over Romania and the western and southern rim of the Black Sea, the Ukrainian air traffic service said.
Early Monday, there were a handful of flights near Kiev and in west Ukraine but none in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels are, flightradar24.com showed.
The only air traffic over the Black Sea was along the western coastline of Romania and Bulgaria and in the south near Turkey.
Dutch airline KLM – part of Air France – said it would stop flying to Ukraine and Germany’s Lufthansa said it was considering suspending flights.
More than 30 Russian ships have started training exercises near the Crimea peninsula as part of wider navy drills, RIA news agency reported on Saturday.
„From tomorrow, airlines are advised not to fly …over this area, and to plan optimal routes in advance, taking into account the current situation,” Ukraine’s state air traffic service said.
It said the airspace over the territory of Ukraine remained open.
A senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday that Ukraine sees no point closing its airspace in response to Moscow’s troop build-up.
The United States has said Russia could invade Ukraine at any time. Moscow denies any plan to invade, saying it is maintaining its own security against aggression by NATO allies.
Romania’s ambassador to US: ‘We need permanent presence of American soldiers’ due to Russia trauma
