{
  "id": 5517423,
  "title": "Russia bars El Al route to St. Petersburg as punishment for blocking Aeroflot flights - report",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/russia-bars-el-al-route-to-st-petersburg-as-punishment-for-blocking",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-04T08:00:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/all-news/article-907580"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Russia has denied El Al's attempt to establish a new flight route between Israel and St. Petersburg, according to N12's report. This decision is reportedly a punishment for Israel's blocking of Aeroflot flights, as stated by the source. The push for a new route comes after the suspension of the Tel Aviv-Moscow route in June due to security concerns stemming from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russia's prohibition of El Al's plan follows the suspension of Aeroflot's landing in Israel, which occurred following US and European sanctions against Russian companies. A separate Russian airline, Red Wings, maintains a flight route between Israel and Russia, according to N12. In June, Ukrainian drone attacks against Russia led to the grounding of numerous flights from all major Moscow airports, resulting in over 500 flight delays. Kyiv claimed the strikes were a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in Kyiv.",
  "summary": "El Al's push for a new flight route to Russia comes after the suspension of the Tel Aviv-Moscow route in June due to the security situation amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.",
  "key_points": [
    "Russia blocks El Al's St. Petersburg route.",
    "Punishment for blocking Aeroflot flights.",
    "Red Wings maintains Israel-Russia route."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Jerusalem Post",
        "title": "Air Tanzania becomes first airline to halt flights to Russia after Zelensky warning",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/air-tanzania-becomes-first-airline-to-halt-flights-to-russia-after",
        "published": "2026-09-04T09:47:04.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Kyiv Independent",
        "title": "First airline cancels flights to Moscow amid Ukrainian threat to 'close' Russia's skies",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/first-airline-cancels-flights-to-moscow-amid-ukrainian-threat-to",
        "published": "2026-09-04T09:56:49.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Voice of Ukraine",
        "title": "Russia sentences Ukrainian reporter abducted in Melitopol to 15 years in prison",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/russia-sentences-ukrainian-reporter-abducted-in-melitopol-to-15-years",
        "published": "2026-09-04T10:25:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}