Russia sends a plane to Bucharest to evacuate diplomats who must leave upon the Romanian Foreign Ministry’s request

A Russian plane lands in an exceptional way on Saturday morning in Bucharest. Russian planes are not allowed in EU airspace as a sanction for the war in Ukraine. The authorities in Bucharest, however, made a derogation for the aircraft that could pick up Embassy employees and their families, declared undesirable.

It is a flight that received the approval of the Ministry of National Defense at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russian plane will land on Saturday, around 10 am, in Bucharest and after two hours will take off back to Russia.

40 employees of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest will board that plane, who will be sent back to Russia, as a result of the request made by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Embassy to reduce its number of employees. It is about diplomats, but also about employees, who worked at the Russian Embassy.

It is an exceptional case, because currently Russian planes are not allowed to enter EU airspace. It is a decision taken by the European states immediately after the invasion of Ukraine. So far, Romania has not made such exceptions. It is the first time that the Romanian Army allows a Russian plane to enter the airspace.