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Europe has shut down its skies to Russian-owned or controlled planes.
All Russian planes are now unable to land in, take off from or fly over any EU nation.
This also includes the private jets of Russian billionaire oligarchs.
This was one of a number of sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
In response, Russia has banned at least 36 countries from its skies.
The Russian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, announced: “A restriction has been imposed on flights for airlines of 36 countries in accordance with international law as a retaliatory measure for the ban imposed by the European states on the flights of commercial airliners operated by Russian airlines and/or registered in Russia.”
The countries banned from Russia’s airspace are: Albania, Anguilla, Austria, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including Greenland, the Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK.
Two Russian billionaires – Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska – have called for an end to the fighting as sanctions begin to have a financial impact on the country.
“We need peace,” the Russian industrial tycoon Oleg Deripaska said.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine must begin “as soon as possible!” he added.
The U.S. and the EU agreed to block “selected” Russian banks from the SWIFT system. Russia is also banned from EU airspace, including the private jets of oligarchs.
“Pro-Kremlin” media has also been banned from entering Europe.
37 major Russian businessmen reportedly met with Putin at the Kremlin last week.
Speaking on a condition of anonymity, another Moscow billionaire told Reuters that the war was going to be a catastrophe.
“It is going to be catastrophic in all senses: for the economy, for relations with the rest of the world, for the political situation,” the billionaire said.
“Businessmen understand very well the consequences. But who is asking the opinion of business about this?”
More on this story via BBC:
The measures mean airlines will have to make long detours on some routes, potentially raising the cost of fuel and tickets.
Swiss International Airlines, which is owned by Germany’s Lufthansa, said that it had cancelled flights from Zurich to Moscow despite Switzerland not appearing on Russia’s list of banned countries.
A spokesperson for the Swiss airline also said it was not flying through Russian airspace.
It said: “We continue to closely monitor the development of the situation and are in close exchange with the Swiss and international authorities as well as with the Lufthansa Group for our operational decisions.”
On Monday, Switzerland – traditionally a neutral country and whose banks are believed to hold billions of dollars in Russian funds- said that it would adopt EU financial sanctions against Moscow.
The Swiss justice minister, Karin Keller-Sutter, also said it had banned five oligarchs with links to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin from entering the country, though declined to name them.
