War in Ukraine: Italy closes its airspace to Russian aircraft

Italy has decided to close its airspace to Russian aircraft, as announced by the government of Mario Draghi, while Finland and Denmark are also expected to close their airspace to Russian aircraft due to of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, Finland and Denmark announced today that they are closing their airspace to Russian aircraft in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukrainefollowing many other European countries.

Finland, which has at least 1,300 km of border with Russia, is “preparing to close its airspace to Russian air traffic,” Transport Minister Timo Harakas said in a tweet posted overnight.

It was not immediately clear when the measure would take effect, according to the Athens News Agency.

This morning Denmark has also announced the closure of its airspace to Russian aircraft, including private jets.

“We will push for an EU-wide closure,” Danish Foreign Minister Gepe Kofod wrote on Twitter during a meeting of European Union foreign ministers today.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine “must be countered with the strongest possible international sanctions,” he said.

With many countries closing or announcing that they will close their airspace (Baltic countries, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany…), Russian planes are facing a huge no-fly zone in Europe.

The closure of Finnish airspace could also affect Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave in the Baltic between Poland and Lithuania.

Moscow, for its part, has begun banning aircraft from various countries from passing through its airspace.