Flights from Kiev to Crimea Capital Cancelled
Kiev's main airport said Friday that flights to the restive Crimean capital of Simferopol, where gun-toting men have encircled the airport, have been cancelled as tensions escalate on the peninsula.
A spokeswoman who did not give her name said flights for Friday evening and Saturday morning had been cancelled because "the situation in Simferopol does not allow them to accept flights".
The Simferopol airport website said a flight to and from Istanbul had been also cancelled on Friday evening. It was unclear whether the Crimean air space had been closed altogether.
Ukraine's Russian-speaking Crimea peninsula has been hit by unrest over the past few days that Kiev authorities blame on Russia, following the weekend ouster of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych and the formation of a new, pro-West government.
Simferopol's regional parliament was seized by separatist commandos on Thursday, and gun-toting men in fatigues descended on two key airports on the autonomous peninsula including Simferopol, prompting Kiev to accuse Russia of launching an "armed invasion".
Ukrainian authorities later said they had regained control of the airports, and a spokesman for Russia's Black Sea Fleet denied any involvement.
But Agence France Presse reporters said dozens of men in battle fatigues and armed with Kalashnikovs continued to encircle the Simferopol airport.
Source: Agence France Presse
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