Ukraine to suspend flights to and from Belarus at midnight on May 26

Kiev will halt flights to and from Belarus starting at midnight on May 26 and will also prohibit Ukrainian air carriers from using Belarusian airspace, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

"Ukraine will suspend flights to and from Belarus starting at midnight on May 26. The government has just held an emergency meeting, ordering the Ministry of Infrastructure, the State Aviation Service and the Ukraeroruh state air traffic company to take the necessary measures to that end. In addition, Ukrainian air carriers will be prohibited from operating flights in Belarusian airspace," he pointed out.

Shmygal added that according to the Ukrainian cabinet, the emergency landing of a Ryanair flight in the Belarusian capital of Minsk had violated the Convention on International Civil Aviation. "Our government’s decision is aimed at ensuring the safety of flights and passengers," he explained.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky chaired a meeting to assess the situation regarding the Ryanair flight incident. He handed instructions to the cabinet to hammer out a solution to suspend flights to and from Belarus and bar Ukrainian air carriers from using Belarusian airspace. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said later that Kiev considered Belarusian airspace to be unsafe for flights.

A Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport on May 23 after a reported bomb threat, which came up empty. Minsk specified that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which the Belarusian authorities recognized as extremist, had been among the flight’s passengers. He was detained by law enforcement officers. The flight departed to Vilnius later that same day.