- April 20, 2026
- 7:58 pm
- World News
On April 20, 2026, Ukraine called on other countries to follow the example of the Baltics and close their skies to planes heading to Moscow for the May 9 events involving Putin. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga thanked Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania for refusing to allow such flights and urged other states to do the same. According to his formula, a lack of conscience should be compensated by a lack of air routes.
For the Israeli audience, this is not a secondary diplomatic news. Kyiv is trying to hit not only logistics but also the very political picture that the Kremlin gathers around May 9 every year. Moscow uses this date as proof of its own legitimacy, historical correctness, and lack of international isolation. Ukraine, on the contrary, wants to turn trips to Moscow into a toxic and inconvenient step.
Why Kyiv demands to close the sky
The meaning of the Ukrainian call is simple. If it becomes harder for foreign delegations to fly to Moscow, then each visit on May 9 turns from a routine protocol into a conscious political choice.
Sybiga directly linked such trips with the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and the threat to European security. In this logic, transit through European skies ceases to be a neutral service. It becomes part of servicing the Kremlin ritual that Russia uses during the war against Ukraine.
That is why the decision of the Baltic countries is so important for Kyiv. This is no longer theory but a ready precedent. If three states have shown that they can say ‘no’ to such flights, then the issue now rests not on technique but on political will.
Who was with Putin on May 9 after 2022
After the start of the full-scale war, the composition of foreign guests in Moscow became a separate political indicator. It shows who is ready to publicly stand next to the Kremlin even after the invasion of Ukraine.
2022: there were practically no notable foreign leaders on the podium. The parade took place already in wartime conditions and without the previous international representation.
2023:
Alexander Lukashenko, President (Belarus)
Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister (Armenia)
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President (Kazakhstan)
Sadyr Japarov, President (Kyrgyzstan)
Emomali Rahmon, President (Tajikistan)
Serdar Berdimuhamedow, President (Turkmenistan)
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President (Uzbekistan)
2024: leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Cuba, Laos, and Guinea-Bissau were present in Moscow.
That is:
Alexander Lukashenko, President (Belarus)
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President (Kazakhstan)
Sadyr Japarov, President (Kyrgyzstan)
Emomali Rahmon, President (Tajikistan)
Serdar Berdimuhamedow, President (Turkmenistan)
Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President (Uzbekistan)
Miguel Díaz-Canel, President (Cuba)
Thongloun Sisoulith, President (Laos)
Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President (Guinea-Bissau)
2025: this was already the most representative parade since the start of the war:
Xi Jinping, Chairman of the PRC (China)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President (Brazil)
and several dozen other leaders from the former USSR, Asia, Africa, and Latin America were reported. The Kremlin announced 29 expected foreign leaders.
For the Israeli reader, the dynamics themselves are important here. In 2022, Moscow looked almost alone. In 2023, mostly post-Soviet allies stood around it. In 2024, the circle expanded due to friendly regimes outside the former USSR. In 2025, the Kremlin already tried to show a broader international ‘showcase’ led by Xi Jinping.
Israel and the May 9 parade in Moscow: who represented the Jewish state
For the Israeli audience, another detail is important in this story: after the start of the full-scale war, Israel did not send the Prime Minister or another leader of the government level to the May 9 parade in Moscow. It was only about representation at the diplomatic level. Benjamin Netanyahu last personally attended the Victory Parade in Moscow on May 9, 2018.
After 2022, Netanyahu’s personal participation in this event did not occur. In 2024 and 2025, Israeli representation was limited to the ambassador level: Simona Halperin, Israel’s ambassador to Russia.
This is important politically as well. Israel did not completely disappear from this symbolic space, but it did not raise its participation to a level that could be interpreted as personal support from the head of government. As a result, Moscow could show the presence of the Israeli flag at the diplomatic level but could not present Netanyahu’s visit to the world as a sign of special closeness in wartime conditions.
Why this is important for Israel
For Israel, this story concerns not only Ukraine. It concerns how modern Russia uses the memory of World War II as a political resource. For the Kremlin, May 9 has long become not only a day of remembrance but also a tool of mobilization, justification of the current war, and demonstration of external support.
That is why Kyiv is hitting the routes. If the usual logistics are disrupted, it will be harder to gather a picture of international normalcy around Red Square. And without this picture, the ritual itself begins to work weaker.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees an important Israeli aspect in this: the memory of the war, the Holocaust, and Nazism cannot become a diplomatic screen for a regime that is waging an aggressive war and trying to cover modern aggression with historical rhetoric. For the Jewish audience, this is an especially sensitive edge.
What the Ukrainian call means now
Ukraine offers Europe and other countries a very specific choice. Not just to condemn Russia with words, but to decide whether they are ready to help it gather an international crowd on May 9.
If more countries follow the example of the Baltics, trips to Moscow will become more difficult and politically heavier. If they do not follow, the Kremlin will try to use each such arrival as proof that Russia’s isolation has not happened.
That is why the dispute is no longer just about flights. It is about who is ready to continue servicing the main Kremlin symbolic day during the ongoing war against Ukraine.