You're reading: Ukraine bans Russian passenger planes from entering Donetsk, Kharkiv airports

Moscow - The Ukrainian authorities have banned Russian passenger airplanes from flying to Donetsk and Kharkiv, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) has reported.

Passenger planes of Russian airlines operating flights to these cities are no longer allowed to enter Ukraine’s airspace, according to a document issued by director of the Ukrainian Air Transportation and Airports Department Serhiy Korshuk.

Rosaviation described the latest measures as an “unprecedented” breach of international air service agreements, saying that this decision seriously violates passengers’ rights and may cause a humanitarian blockade of Ukraine’s southeastern regions.

However, Russian authorities said that they would not take any “symmetrical” measures and would not ban Ukrainian passenger airplanes from Russia’s airspace.

Russia hopes that common sense will prevail and calls on the Ukrainian authorities to refrain from any unfriendly steps that might lead to a transport blockade of Donetsk and Kharkiv, according to the report.