MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. Russia has closed its airspace to 36 countries as a response to the closing of airspace to Russian aircraft, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) said in a statement on Monday. Apart from the UK, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Poland, with which airspace has already been closed, another 27 countries have been put on the revised list, including Germany, Spain, Italy, and France.
"In accordance with the norms of international law, as a retaliation measure to the ban imposed by European states on flights of civil aircraft exploited by Russian air carriers and/or registered in Russia, the performance of flights by airlines of 36 states has been restricted. Flights from the mentioned countries may be performed under a special authorization granted by Rosaviatsiya or the Foreign Ministry of Russia," the statement said.
Austria, Albania, Anguilla, Belgium, the British Virgin Islands, Hungary, Gibraltar, Greece, Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Jersey, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Canada, Cyprus, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Finland, Croatia, and Sweden have also been put on the list.
The UK was the first to close its airspace for Russian aircraft on February 25. On February 27, foreign ministers of 27 countries of the European Union approved the move to fully close the EU’s airspace for Russian aircraft. Canada has also closed its airspace for Russian jets.