In response to the decision by multiple countries to close their airspace to Russian aircrafts, Rosaviatsiya, the Russian aviation authority, announced that it was closing its airspace to 35 countries on Monday.

Countries affected by the indefinite ban include all European Union member states and Canada. The EU took the decision to ban Russian aircraft from its airspace as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, humanitarian flights are exempt from the ban while exceptions can also be made in other cases via Russian government ministries.

So far, the Russian offensive cannot claim any major victories.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

The EU shut all Russian planes out of its airspace, as did Canada, forcing Russian airline Aeroflot to cancel all flights to European destinations until further notice. The United States and France urged their citizens to consider leaving Russia immediately.