Russia resumed regular domestic passenger flights to the southern city of Krasnodar on Wednesday, fully reopening a key regional airport that was closed for more than three years due to security concerns linked to the war in Ukraine.
A fully loaded 183-seat Airbus A321 from Moscow operated by Russian flag carrier Aeroflot landed in the city of more than 1.5 million people after a flight of about 3-1/2 hours.
That was about 90 minutes longer than flights before the war, as planes now avoid the airspace near the front line in Ukraine and fly via Volgograd and the Black Sea coast.
Russia closed 11 major airports in its southern and western regions, including those in Kursk, Simferopol and Rostov-on-Don, following the start of its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
Krasnodar, almost 1,200 km (750 miles) from Moscow, is the third of these airports to reopen, following Elista in May 2024 and Gelendzhik in July 2025.
Alexey Buyevich, deputy head of Russia's civil aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya, said the decision to resume flights was based on an evaluation of the risks.
"We have a working group at Rosaviatsiya that considered all risks, examined flight safety issues and also established safe flight routes," he said, adding that the final decision was made by the Transport Ministry.
Aeroflot said it will operate up to five flights a day from Moscow, as well as services from six other Russian cities, including Saint-Petersburg.
Türkiye’s defence and aerospace exports surged by 44 percent year on year in January 2026, hitting a record monthly high of more than $555 million ...
The final barrier preventing an unlimited nuclear arms race between Washington and Moscow hangs by a thread. With an expiration date looming this year...
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Tuesday (3 February) for talks on Iran and the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan ahead of Fr...
Kazakhstan has approved plans for a second nuclear power plant in a significant scaling up of the country's nuclear ambitions. It comes a year after a...
Kazakhstan sharply increased oil shipments to Europe in January, exporting 310,000 tonnes to Germany and sending a further 106,000 tonnes via the Baku...
Türkiye’s defence and aerospace exports surged by 44 percent year on year in January 2026, hitting a record monthly high of more than $555 million as overseas demand for Turkish-built military technology continued to grow, the Turkish Defence Industries Secretariat said on Monday (2 February).
The final barrier preventing an unlimited nuclear arms race between Washington and Moscow hangs by a thread. With an expiration date looming this year and international inspections suspended, the world faces a precarious future regarding the containment of strategic weapons. Should we be worried?
Kazakhstan sharply increased oil shipments to Europe in January, exporting 310,000 tonnes to Germany and sending a further 106,000 tonnes via the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
The imminent expiry of New START, the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, risks removing transparency, predictability and limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, political analyst Gregory Mathieu warned.
Heavy snow continued to batter northern and western Japan on Saturday (31 January) leaving cities buried under record levels of snowfall and prompting warnings from authorities. Aomori city in northern Japan recorded 167 centimetres of snow by Friday - the highest January total since 1945.
The United States accused Cuba of interfering with the work of its top diplomat in Havana on Sunday (1 February) after small groups of Cubans jeered at him during meetings with residents and church representatives.
A daylight robbery at a jewellery shop in Richmond, one of London’s most affluent and traditionally quiet districts, has heightened security concerns among residents and local businesses.
Talks with the U.S. should be pursued to secure national interests as long as "threats and unreasonable expectations" are avoided, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X on Tuesday (3 February).
Early voting for Thailand’s parliamentary elections began on Sunday (1 February), with more than two million eligible voters casting ballots nationwide ahead of the 8 February general election, as authorities acknowledged errors and irregularities at some polling stations.
The imminent expiry of New START, the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, risks removing transparency, predictability and limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, political analyst Gregory Mathieu warned.
India has not made any statement on halting purchases of Russian oil despite claims by US President Donald Trump that such a step was part of a new trade accord with Washington, the Kremlin said on Tuesday (3 February).
Russia says it is prepared for a new reality in which there are no U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control limits once the New START treaty expires this week, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Paris prosecutors have summoned X chairman Elon Musk and former chief executive Linda Yaccarino for questioning in April as part of their probe into the X social media network, they said on Tuesday.
Ukraine has agreed with Western partners on a plan under which repeated Russian violations of any future ceasefire would trigger swift, co-ordinated military responses by Europe and the United States, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment