Russia is gradually paying huge price for Ukraine invasion as many European Union countries have taken compelling steps to force her to back down on the action.
The European Union placed flight ban on Russian planes, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced Sunday.
“We are shutting down EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft,” she said.
European Union members Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Finland, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Denmark.]
Read also: Russia launches military onslaught for full-scale Ukraine invasion
All such planes, including the private jets of oligarchs, will now be unable to land in, take off from or fly over any EU nation.
Canada has also joined the Nordic countries in closing its airspace against Russia while Russian planes have been banned from UK airspace.
Departure boards at Moscow’s Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports showed dozens of cancellations on Sunday, including flights to Paris, Vienna and Kaliningrad.
Russia’s S7 Airlines said on Facebook it would cancel flights to many of its European destinations until at least 13 March.
Aeroflot, Russia’s biggest airline, said it would cancel its services to Latvia and Romania until at least 26 March, and its Prague and Warsaw routes until 28 March.
Russia has responded with tit-for-tat restrictions on countries banning its flights.
Poland, Czechoslovakia and Sweden said they would not play with Russia for the World Cup qualifying series in Qatar.
The International Judo Association has stripped Russian President Vladimir Putin of an Honourary president.
However, the Ukrainian military alleged that Russian soldiers have suffered more than expected casualties after invading the East European country.
The Ukrainian military published a post on its Facebook page that more than 3,500 Russian soldiers involved in the invasion have been killed and almost 200 taken prisoner.
The Ukranian Ministry of Defence added that Russia has also lost 14 aircraft, 8 helicopters, and 102 tanks so far.
As Russia’s assault on Ukraine reached into its second largest city, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was putting nuclear forces on high alert, the EU announced unprecedented new actions against Moscow.
Putin’s order to make his nuclear weapons more ready for launch – made Sunday in response to “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers and economic sanctions by the West – represent an unnecessary and dangerous move, according to the Pentagon.
A senior Defense Department official said Russia is under no threat from the United States and its NATO allies. The Pentagon is confident it can protect the United States and its allies, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Meanwhile, the European Union have closed its airspace to Russian airlines, fund a weapons purchase to assist Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in its latest response to Russia’s invasion, European Commission officials said Sunday. It marks the first time the block would finance military equipment for a country under attack.
“Another taboo has fallen. The taboo that the European Union was not providing arms in a war,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Earlier Sunday, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a delegation would meet with Russian officials for talks, near the Belarus border.
Earlier Sunday, Russian troops entered Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and fighting is underway in the streets, according to the Associated Press. Videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and a light vehicle burning on the street. Residents were urged to stay inside.
The troops in Kharkiv arrived after Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine, targeting airfields and fuel facilities. Two large explosions rocked an area south of the capital just before 1 a.m. local time.
Zelenskyy’s office said one of the blasts was near the Zhuliany airport and the other blast hit an oil depot about 25 miles south of the capital, according to the mayor of Vasylkiv via the AP. Russian forces also blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian president’s office.
The U.N. has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed in the fighting in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on Thursday, according to AP. Though, the U.N. believes the toll may be “considerably higher.”
More than 200,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries. U.N. officials believe up to 4 million people could leave if fighting continues.
Meanwhile, the United States and its European allies agreed to remove “selected” Russian banks from the international SWIFT messaging system, which allows for the movement of financial transactions.
Despite these actions, Russia is defiant and has accused EU members of double standard.
