DISINFO: Ukraine seizing Russian plane is an anti-russian step
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian authorities took another anti-Russian step when they decided to “force guard” on aircraft belonging to Russian airlines. The virtual arrest/seizing of 44 Russian aircraft aims to “punish” the Russian airlines operating in Crimea. The current regime in Ukraine refuses to recognise Crimea’s affiliation with Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea.
Ukrainian court “seized” an additional 44 planes that belong to Russian air companies; as these vessels performed illegal flights to the occupied peninsula, in breach of Ukraine's law and international flight regulations.
In March 2014, Ukraine closed the air space over the annexed Crimea, because it cannot observe flight safety regulations over this territory, and because they violated the order of entry/exit to the occupied peninsula and the rules of international flights, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office for Crimea and Sevastopol said in a statement.
Not only Ukraine does not recognise Crimea's affiliation with Russia, but no international body recognises the so-called referendum, that Russia considers as the main reason to occupy Crimea. A year after the illegal annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum. The EU has taken a policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol that includes a set of restrictive measures for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Read similar cases claiming that Crimean people have expressed their desire to rejoin Russia in a democratic process and that Crimea never belonged to Ukraine.
This article also had another claim that Crimea regained its Russian status in 2014.