MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. Russia has expressed resolute protest over Bucharest’s banning the flight of a passenger plane bound from Moscow to Chisinau, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.

"The Russian foreign ministry has expressed resolute protest to Romania’s Charge d’Affaires in Russia Viorel Cojocaru over the Romanian authorities’ ban on a flight across its airspace of a passenger plane of the Globus airline which was on a regular flight from Moscow to Chisinau," the ministry said.

"It was stressed that security of more than 160 passengers onboard that plane was put at risk," the ministry stressed. "They failed to reach their destination in due time."

Moscow qualifies the incident as "a deliberate provocation causing serious damage to bilateral relations, the ministry said. "We have urged the Romanian authorities to carry out a thorough investigation of the incident and give the Russian side the relevant explanations."

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin’s visit to Moldova due to take place on Friday was frustrated by Romania’s refusal to let the regular passenger flight S7-157 Moscow-Chisinau with the Russian delegation fly over its territory under a pretext of carrying a "blacklisted person." The plane made a stopover in Minsk, from where the Russian deputy prime minister took a regular Aeroflot flight to Moscow.

Rogozin was expected to have talks in Chisinau with Moldovan President Igor Dodon at the latter’s invitation.