Russia protested on Friday Ukrainian military’s plan to fire missiles in airspace above Crimean territorial waters in the Black Sea.
Ukraine has unilaterally decided to hold missile firing exercises in Russia's airspace near Crimea, Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) said in a statement Friday.
"In violation of all international agreements, Ukraine unilaterally decided to hold missile firing exercises in Russia's sovereign airspace… near Simferopol," the Russian air transport agency Rosaviatsia said.
Missiles drills will take place on December 1-2 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time, according to the Russian agency. They will extend into Russia’s civil airspace and present a threat to flight safety.
The Russian Defense Ministry specified the drills would be allegedly held to the west of the Crimean peninsula coastline. It called the exercise illegal and summoned Ukraine's defense attache earlier in the day to hand him a note of protest.
A warning has also been filed by Rosaviatsia whose spokesman, Sergei Izvolsky, said Kiev’s unilateral decision violated "basic principles of civil aviation" that require prior coordination and the closing of airspace with bordering countries. Ukrainian General Staff’s spokesman Vladyslav Selezniov and national aviation authority Ukraerorukh declined to comment on the upcoming war games.