#ukarine

EU countries close airspace to Russian airlines

Lucian K. Truscott IV

Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia announced today that they are closing their airspace to Russian airlines. Poland and Germany quickly followed suit, saying they will no longer allow flights from Russia to land. Separately, the German airline Lufthansa announced that it is cancelling all flights to Russia. American carrier Delta announced that they will no longer have a code sharing agreement with Aeroflot, which allows customers to fly on each other’s airlines and book trips on the same ticket. Delta does not have flights into Russia.

The United Kingdom, Moldova and the Czech Republic closed their airspace to Russian airlines earlier this week.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted that after the Russia invasion of Ukraine, other EU counties should isolate Russia economically and politically. “There is no place for planes of the aggressor state in democratic skies,” Kallas tweeted.

Meanwhile, NATO countries have started shipping military equipment, fuel, and other supplies to Ukraine overland, crossing the Polish border. Resupply overland is still a risky business, because convoys into Western Ukraine will have no protection from attack by Russian military aircraft. Russia has achieved military air superiority over most of Ukraine during the last two days, closing down the possibility of resupplying by air.

The Western border of Ukraine with Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia is still largely secure, as most of the Russian assault has been in the East, North and South. But it’s not just Ukraine which faces danger from Russia if their forces take territory along the Western border of Ukraine.

The memory that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in July of 2014 by a Russian-made BUK SA-11 anti-aircraft missile fired from the contested Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine is still strong in that country. Ukrainian, Dutch and UK investigators determined that the missile launcher was operated by the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade and had been moved from Russia into Eastern Ukraine just before the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down. All 283 passengers and 15 members of the crew were killed.

If Russian forces take the Eastern part of Ukraine and control its border regions with Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, no passenger jets flying in those countries close to the border will be safe. Malaysia Flight 17 was flying at 33,000 feet and was 50 miles from the Ukraine-Russia border when it was shot down. The Russian BUK SA-11 is just one of Russia’s anti-aircraft systems capable of hitting aircraft at that altitude. Russia could station anti-aircraft batteries just inside the Ukrainian border and shoot down civilian airliners and claim that its radar detected a potential incursion by NATO military jets. Russia never took responsibility for the shoot-down of the Malaysia Airlines jet. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the whole thing on Ukraine and said that it bore responsibility for the destruction of the civilian airliner because it happened in Ukrainian airspace and the remains of the jet were recovered on its territory.

NATO and other western states had better start shutting down their airspace to Russian aircraft now before Putin pulls something like the shoot-down of Malaysia Flight 17 and blames it on the West.

Lucian Truscott Newsletter

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TCinLA

Writes That's Another Fine Mess

Via Finn’s ig story

Based on what I see my father doing

Let them use firm cars to go pick up their family, friends and additionally have them pay for gas from firm funds

Offer to the pay their salary earlier, they might need the money to support their family

Be flexible with their schedule, they might have more responsibilities outside of work now

LISTEN TO THEM, talk with them, ask about their needs and try to help in any way that you can