25 February 2022, 5:57 AM |Smoke rises from the territory of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's unit, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 24, 2022
Ukraine closed its airspace as Russian forces attacked in the early hours, leaving budget airline Wizz Air trying to evacuate its Ukrainian-based crew, their families and four planes stuck in Kyiv and Lviv. Europe’s aviation regulator expanded a safety warning triggered by the attack, advising airlines to “exercise caution “when flying through parts of Russian airspace controlled by regional centres in Moscow and Rostov.Shares in German utility Uniper, which has significant interests in Russia and a $1 billion exposure to the recently suspended Nord Stream 2 project, plunged on Thursday and its controlling shareholder, Finland’s Fortum, also took a knock.
Shares in German chemical company BASF, which co-owns Wintershall with Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Letter One investor group, and other Nord Stream 2 backers OMV and Engie were also hit. “We have been watching this situation for several weeks and have decided since the start of the year to increase our stocks of titanium especially through distributors in Germany,” Safran Chief Executive Olivier Andries told reporters.