GHOSTS OF MH17

Flights to Ukraine Cancelled or Redirected as Tensions Rise

The cancellations come a day after a call between Biden and Putin resulted in no progress between the two nations on Ukraine.

As fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine increase, airlines are canceling or diverting flights destined for the region. Dutch airline KLM is among the airlines reporting that they will cancel flights to Ukraine until further notice. In 2014, 198 Dutch citizens were among 298 killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed rebels. (Dutch prosecutors have accused three Russians and a Ukrainian in absentia of helping supply a missile system that separatists fired at the commercial airline.) According to the White House, in an hour long phone call, President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of the potential of “widespread human suffering” just a day after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan projected that an invasion from Russia was days away. The call gave no hint of Russia backing down, but Biden relayed the U.S.’s readiness to intervene if an invasion commences. Russia continues to deny any plans to invade despite extensive Western intelligence that says otherwise and the build up of over 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.