A stop before taking off. The Polish national airline (LOT) said on Tuesday that it had refused access on board one of its aircraft to Russian tennis player Vitalia Diatchenko, citing restrictions imposed by Warsaw on the movement of Russian nationals.
Vitalia Diatchenko, 32, claimed on social media that she was denied boarding a LOT flight from Cairo to Nice via Warsaw because of her nationality, forcing her to miss a tournament in France. “LOT Polish Airlines could not accept a citizen of the Russian Federation on its flight,” the airline confirmed in a statement.
Restrictions for Russian citizens
The restrictions on the movement of Russian citizens invoked include “airport crossings, with regard to citizens of the Russian Federation traveling from outside the Schengen area”. Warsaw, a key supporter of kyiv, implemented travel restrictions last September as part of sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Vitalia Diatchenko, currently No. 250 in the WTA rankings, was quoted by Polish media as saying she was “stuck for eighteen hours at Cairo airport”, which was why she had to withdraw from a tournament in Corsica.