Russia closes airspace on borders with Ukraine, Belarus
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Feb, 2022 02:40 PM
Moscow, Feb 24 (IANS) In view of the latest situation, Russia has closed its airspace to civilian aircraft starting from Thursday on its western borders with Ukraine and Belarus, the Russian aviation authorities announced.
The announcement came shortly after President Vladimir Putin authorised a "special military operation" in the conflict-hit Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, reports Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) posted on the website of the US Federal Aviation Administration Civil said that aviation flights in the Ukrainian airspace are limited in view of potential threats.
Flights to Kiev, Dnepr, Lvov and Odessa airports "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation, the notice says.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian Armed Forces are destroying "military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, aviation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces" with high-precision weapons, not targeting Ukrainian cities.
Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA: "Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac."
Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents can now enter Canada for non-essential purposes for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the two countries to severely curtail travel.
One person was killed and another injured during a shooting which took place in the parking lot of a store in the US state of Pennsylvania, authorities said.
Six Sikhs were killed in the August 5, 2012, attack in which four people, including a police officer, were injured and one person died last year from the wounds sustained in the shooting.
U.S.-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine program.
The Biden administration has kept in place travel restrictions that have severely curtailed international trips to the U.S., citing the spread of the delta variant of the virus. Under the rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S.
