Ukraine State Air Traffic Service plane’s just departed Simferopol airport seized by pro-Russian troops

Simferopol is one of the two Crimean airports seized by pro-Russian troops. A Ukraine State plane has just departed from it heading towards Ukraine.

As Crimea prepares for the referendum next Sunday, all commercial flights at Crimea’s Simferopol airport, other than those to and from Moscow were canceled.

Amid cancellations and turn arounds of several flights, the de facto embargo does not seem to affect some Ukraine‘s State flights: a Beech 200 belonging to the country’s Air Traffic Service that is currently crusing towards Kiev as UTS155 flight (clearly visible on Flightradar24.com).

Maybe the ban doesn’t interest some non-commercial planes, even if it is interesting to notice a Ukrainian plane belonging to a State Agency was allowed to takeoff from the airport where the Russian flag was hoisted above the control tower.

Image credit: via Flightradar24.com

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About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.