Russia Disagrees With ICAO's View on Ukraine's Missile Drills Near Crimea

The Russian Transport Ministry is not satisfied with the response from the the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding Ukraine's missile drills near Russia's Crimean peninsula last December, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia earlier proposed to discuss the issue within the ICAO framework citing the violation of international agreement by Kiev as well as potential threat to air travel security in the airspace around Crimea.

"We have received the response (from ICAO) but I can't say we are satisfied with it. We continue written communication with ICAO," the minister told reporters in Moscow.

Ukraine unilaterally decided to hold missile firing exercises near Crimea’s Simferopol on December 1-2 in violation of international agreements. The Russian Defense Ministry summoned Ukraine's defense attache to serve a note protesting Kiev illegally restricting the use of airspace over the Black Sea during the drills.

Moscow repeatedly called Kiev's missile launches in the Black Sea a threat to the safety of Russian civilian flights to Crimea and a provocation. Russian aviation authorities then informed the ICAO about the tests.

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