By (AA) 

MOSCOW – In retaliation for a British ban on Russian flights in its airspace, Russia has closed its airspace to British air carriers, including transit flights, Russian authorities announced.

Rosaviation, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, said in a statement that they had sought consultations with British authorities over the restrictions imposed Thursday on Russian flights in UK airspace – imposed as part of sanctions after Russia launched an intervention into Ukraine – but this was refused.

The ban on British flights applies to “flights of aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with the United Kingdom or registered in the United Kingdom to points on the territory of the Russian Federation, including transit flights through the airspace of the Russian Federation," and went into effect at 11 am Moscow time (0800GMT) Friday, Rosaviation said.

On Thursday, Britain notified Russia of restrictions on the flights of Russian airlines in UK airspace as a part of new sanctions.

Rosaviation slammed the decision, saying it violates an agreement between Russia and Britain providing for cooperation "on all issues necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of contractual lines," and holding consultations "in case of any difficulties in the operation of these lines."

The agreement also stipulates that the airlines of the two countries "will be granted fair and equal rights to operate contractual routes."

- Donbas crisis and Russia’s military intervention

The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations. As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.