Fifteen Ukrainian civilian airports have been damaged since Russia’s invasion of the country in February 2022, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Saturday, quoted by local media.
Ukraine, which, according to the state aviation service, has 20 civil airports, is studying the possibility of partially opening its airspace. It has been closed since the start of the war.
Ukrainians wishing to travel abroad currently have to travel by road or train to neighboring countries to fly. For those living in the East, the trip out of Ukraine can take a day in itself.
“We carried out a risk assessment and determined the needs of the air defense forces to partially open the airspace,” Shmyhal was quoted as saying by local news agency Ukrinform at a transport conference.
“Security issues and the military situation remain central to this decision,” he said.
Shmyhal said Russia had attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure nearly 60 times over the past three months, damaging or destroying nearly 300 facilities and 22 civilian vessels.
A senior associate at insurance broker Marsh McLennan told Reuters earlier this month that Ukraine could reopen the airport in the western city of Lviv in 2025 if regulators deem it safe and a political decision is made. socket.
