Russian aircraft landed at Hungarian military airport despite closed airspace!
An aircraft with Russian insignia that previously transported radioactive cargo landed at the Pápa Military Air Base despite early sanctions against Russia, including the closing of the European Union’s airspace.
Shortly after Russia launched a military attack on Ukraine, the European Union started to try and deter Russia from the attack by passing some sanctions against Putin.
Back on February 27, the EU with Ursula von der Leyen at the forefront accepted the first package of sanctions against Russia; in addition to purchasing weapons and medical equipment for 500 million euros to donate to Ukraine, the countries accepted her proposal, writes Telex.
“We are closing the EU’s airspace before the Russians. We propose that all Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft be banned. These aircraft will no longer be allowed to land, take off or fly over the territory of the EU.”
Telex reports that despite this ban, an aircraft belonging to the Russian Airline Volga-Dneper took off in Moscow, then flew over Belarus, Poland, and Slovakia, and then proceeded to land early Wednesday at the Pápa Military Air Base in Hungary, as per the information found on flight radar.
The Hungarian news portal sent an inquiring letter addressed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Hungary; however, the ministry did not answer before publishing their material on the aircraft, although some form of an answer came from another, supposedly less related source.
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology shortly answered Telex and told them that “a few minor exemptions can be granted from the general ban of Russian aircraft from the EU airspace. The flight in question was carried out with the knowledge of the European Commission and with the permission and agreement of the EU Member States involved in the route”.
With the few exemptions, the ministry might have possibly referred to humanitarian, repatriation, or single, approved flights, which can enter despite the ban.
24.hu reported some further information about the aircraft, and they wrote that the Volga-Dnepr Airlines IL-76 aircraft with registration number RA-76952
transported nuclear fuel to Pozsony (Bratislava) mid-March, which the Slovakian government had ordered to be able to safely guarantee the operation of the country’s two nuclear powerplants.
Source: Telex.hu, Index.hu, 24.hu