(VOVworld) – Kiev said last month it will ban direct flights by Russian airlines, including flagship carrier Aeroflot, from October 25th to punish them for flying to Crimea, a peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It also banned Russian planes carrying military hardware or troops from flying over Ukrainian territory. Similar sanctions Russia imposed on Ukrainian airlines took effect on Sunday. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the Ukrainian ban, saying the ban hurts ordinary citizens. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia, 75 percent of air travelers between Russia and Ukraine are Ukrainian.