A number of European nations have enforced flight bans on Russia from their airspaces, saying they refuse to have “planes of the aggressor state in democratic skies” as Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine.

At the time of filing this report, Russian planes are barred from airspaces in the United Kingdom, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia.  

Latvia made the decision to close its airspace in coordination with its neighbours Lithuania and Estonia, the government said in a statement.

“Lithuania is joining Latvia and Estonia in banning Russian aircraft from its airspace”, Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said.

Lithuania serves as the shortest route from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad, locked between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea’s eastern coast.

The flight ban would force Russian flights to take a longer detour over the Baltic Sea.

Dutch KLM Airlines announced that it would also cancel all flights to Russia for the next week in line with European sanctions.

The airline added that it would be directing its pilots to avoid Russian airspace.

In retaliation, Russia has banned many countries from its airspace, including Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Czech Republic.

“Air carriers of these states and/or registered in them are subject to restrictions on flights to destinations on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the federal air transport agency Rosaviation said in a statement.

Rosaviation maintained that the flight bans were in response to other European countries’ decisions to ban the entry of planes registered in Russia or used by Russian carriers into their territories.