President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, has imposed sanctions on Georgian Airways for a period of 10 years, following the airline's resumption of direct flights to Russia.

The restrictions include asset freezes, cessation of trade operations, termination of flights and transit through Ukrainian territory, suspension of economic and financial obligations, revocation of licenses and other permits.

Personal sanctions have also been imposed on the founder of the airline, Tamaz Gaiašvili, as reported by Echo of the Caucasus radio station. Earlier, information about Kyiv proposing to extend international sanctions to the airline appeared on the portal of the Ukrainian National Agency for Prevention of Corruption.

The agency stated that the airline's activities aimed at intensifying and facilitating transportation contribute to an increased risk of Moscow's circumvention of sanctions.

Previously, Georgian opposition, the European Union, and the United States also opposed the restoration of direct air communication between Georgia and Russia. The EU called on Georgia, which aspires to become a member of the European bloc, to support aviation sanctions against Moscow in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

In total, Ukraine expanded its sanctions on July 1 against 192 individuals, mostly Russian citizens, and 291 companies and legal entities.

The owner of Georgian Airways, Tamaz Gaiašvili, told the Russian news agency TASS that he is "not interested in Zelensky's sanctions."

The airline operated flights to Kyiv prior to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, but since the beginning of 2022, Ukrainian airspace has been closed to passenger carriers. Photo by BriYYZ from Toronto, Canada, Wikimedia commons.