Ukrainian Court Seizes 44 Russian Planes Flying to Annexed Crimea

At the request of the prosecutor’s office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Ukrainian court has seized 44 planes belonging to Russian airlines flying to the occupied Crimea. As the  Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol Prosecutor’s Office’s press service informed, the planes violated the order of entry/exit to/from the occupied peninsula and international flight rules.

It is reported that the Security Service of Ukraine investigated the criminal proceedings over the facts of international flight rules and the procedure of entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory violation by the foreign airlines’ officials.

The prosecutor’s office noted that since March 2014, Ukraine had closed the airspace over the occupied Crimea due to the impossibility of supervising flight safety in the organisation of air traffic. All the airports in the peninsula’s occupied territory have been closed officially.

“Despite this 109 aircraft of Russian airlines operated regular passenger flights to the occupied peninsula, violating international flight rules and Ukrainian law. In connection with this they have been identified and seized,” the statement said.

To recap, in early September, a court arrested 65 Russian planes that violated the order of entry and exit to/from the occupied Crimean Peninsula. Currently, about 40 Russian airlines operate regular passenger flights to the Crimea, violating international flight rules and Ukrainian laws.

Bohdan Marusyak