Moscow will retaliate after Kyiv airline ban

The conflict between Kyiv and Moscow continued on Friday as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced during a government meeting that major Russian airlines would be banned from flying into the Ukraine - starting on October 25. The move would become part of an ongoing series of sanctions Kyiv has imposed upon nearly 100 Russian companies.

"Russian planes with the Russian tricolor have no business in Ukrainian airports," Yatsenyuk was quoted as saying on the government website.

According to the government's website, Yatsenyuk also said that planes carrying military equipment or troops would not be allowed to fly over Ukraine's territory either - although commercial flights would still be permitted to fly over Ukraine.

In response, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said later that day that Moscow would be forced to retaliate if the restrictions went into effect, according to the Interfax news agency.

Of the more than 90 Russian companies Kyiv blacklisted this month as threats to national security, 25 were aviation companies. Aeroflot has said that it was not informed about the ban prior to the decision being made.

"Only when and if Aeroflot receives official notification from the aviation authorities of Ukraine that flights have been canceled will the company inform passengers and explain the rules on ticket reimbursement," the company said in a statement.

As part of the sanctions, Kyiv has also made it illegal for Ukrainian state institutions to use Russian computer software, especially from Internet security website Kaspersky Lab.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia have been particularly frayed since early 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and a war broke out between Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists in the two eastern-most regions of the Ukraine.

The same day as Kyiv's announcement, the separatists announced a blacklist of 10 Western relief organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Czech Republic's People in Need.

blc/msh (Reuters, dpa, AFP)