A Ukrainian marine looks on at a fighting position on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels, Donetsk region
Highlights
- The Ukrainian government is closing airports in eastern Ukraine from midnight through 7 am
- Ukrainian aviation authorities also have declared some airspace in the east to be “danger areas”
- Russian aviation authorities have been attempting to seize control of the Ukrainian airspace
Airspace over all of Ukraine has been shut down to civilian air traffic, according to a notice posted to aircrews early Thursday. A commercial flight-tracking website shows that an Israeli El Al Boeing 787 from Tel Aviv to Toronto turned abruptly out of Ukrainian airspace before detouring over Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
The only other aircraft tracked over Ukraine is a US RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane that began flying westward out of Ukraine after Russia put in place flight restrictions over Ukrainian territory.
As per earlier reports, the Ukrainian government had closed airports in eastern Ukraine from midnight through 7 am (local time) because of the confrontation with Russia.
Ukrainian aviation authorities also have declared some airspace in the east to be “danger areas” because of attempts by Russian aviation authorities to seize control of the airspace.
Ukraine acted after Russia issued a ban on civilian air traffic in airspace over eastern Ukraine.
The announcement Wednesday night establishes buffer zones for traffic controlled by Ukrainian authorities to avoid coming into potentially hazardous conflict with air traffic controlled by Russian authorities.
Last week, Ukrainian aviation officials warned pilots in the region to be on the lookout for Russian authorities trying to take control of the airspace and to only recognise Ukraine's controllers.
UN Security Council sets an emergency meeting on Ukraine
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting Wednesday night at the request of Ukraine, which says there is an immediate threat of a Russian invasion.
The meeting comes two days after the 15-member council held an emergency open meeting also requested by Ukraine. That session saw no support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of independence for two separatist areas in Ukraine’s east and his announcement that Russian troops would be heading there to keep the peace.
The meeting Wednesday night comes as council diplomats are finalizing a draft resolution that they say would make clear that Russia is violating the UN Charter, international law and a 2015 council resolution endorsing the Minsk agreements aimed at restoring peace in eastern Ukraine.
They say the resolution would urge Russia to get back into compliance immediately.
(With inputs from agencies)
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