Amid conflict with Russia, Ukraine shuts airports

Washington, Feb 24: The Ukrainian government announced that it is closing airports in eastern Ukraine from midnight through 7 a.m. due to the confrontation with Russia. Ukrainian aviation authorities also have declared some airspace in the east to be "danger areas" because of attempts by Russian aviation authorities to seize control of the airspace.

Ukraine acted after Russia issued a ban on civilian air traffic in airspace over eastern Ukraine. The announcement Wednesday night establishes buffer zones for traffic controlled by Ukrainian authorities to avoid coming into potentially hazardous conflict with air traffic controlled by Russian authorities. Last week, Ukrainian aviation officials warned pilots in the region to be on the lookout for Russian authorities trying to take control of the airspace and to only recognise Ukraine's controllers.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it's intended to protect civilians. Delivering an emergency address, Putin said the operation has been launched to demilitarize the country.

"It was not like this in the past, it is not like this now and it will not be so in the future. You demand security guarantees from NATO. We also demand guarantees of our security - from you, from Russia, and other guarantors of the Budapest memorandum," Zelenskyy said in a video address. Ukrainian President also refuted Moscow's claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and warned that a Russian invasion would cost tens of thousands of lives.