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British airlines have been banned from landing at Russia's airports and from crossing its airspace, the Russian civil aviation regulator has said, BBC reported.

Russia said the move was a response to "the unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities".

On Thursday, the UK banned Russia's national airline Aeroflot from landing in Britain.

The measure was part of sanctions introduced following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told ITV: "I think that's their retaliation for us yesterday banning Aeroflot from using and landing in the United Kingdom. That's their tit for tat response."

Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said: "This measure was taken in accordance with the provisions of the Intergovernmental Air Services Agreement between Russia and the UK as a response to unfriendly decisions by the UK aviation authorities regarding the restriction on regular flights of aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with Russia or registered in Russia."

British Airways said in a statement it was notifying customers on cancelled services and would offer full refunds.

"We apologise for the inconvenience but this is clearly a matter beyond our control," the airline said.

British Airways normally operates three flights per week each way between London and Moscow.

Following Russia's announcement, Virgin Atlantic also said flight paths had been adjusted for some of its services between the UK, Pakistan and India. Flight times on these routes will be extended by between 15 minutes and an hour.

Missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital on Friday as Russian forces pressed their advance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded with the international community to do more, saying sanctions announced so far were not enough, Associated Press reported.

Air raid sirens wailed over the city of 3 million people, where some were sheltering in underground metro stations, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion that has shocked the world.

Ukrainian officials said a Russian aircraft had been shot down and crashed into a building in Kyiv overnight, setting it ablaze and injuring eight people.

A senior Ukrainian official said Russian forces would enter areas just outside the capital later on Friday and that Ukrainian troops were defending positions on four fronts despite being outnumbered.

Windows had been blasted out of a 10-storey apartment block near Kyiv’s main airport, where a two-metre crater filled with rubble showed where a shell had struck before dawn. A policeman said people were injured there but not killed.

“How we can live through it in our time? What should we think. Putin should be burnt in hell along with his whole family,” said Oxana Gulenko, cleaning broken glass from her room. A neighbour, Soviet army veteran Anatoliy Marchenko, 57, could not find his cat that had run away during the shelling.

“I know people there, they are my friends,” he said of Russia. “What do they need from me? A war has come to my house and that’s it.”

Witnesses said loud explosions could be heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, close to Russia’s border, and air raid sirens sounded over Lviv in the west. Authorities reported heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sumy.

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal held a meeting at the former’s official residence in Baluwatar on Friday.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Deuba sought help from Nepal to endorse the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

“You have made me the Prime Minister. We formed the coalition by ourselves. It is the responsibility of the alliance to take the MCC to a logical conclusion. It will not send a good message if the government’s proposal fails,” a source at Baluwatar said as PM Deuba saying.

In response, Nepal assured PM Deuba of necessary support to take the MCC to a logical conclusion.  

“We cannot go against the people. We will take a decision on the MCC after holding discussions with the party leaders,” Nepal said.

CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Nepal said that the country’s politics has reached a critical juncture due to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

He said so while talking to journalists at the Parliament building on Friday.

“We urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to postpone the Parliament meeting,” adding, “We told him to have a broader discussion on the contemporary political issues like Millennium Challenge Corporation. We should take the decision in the interest of the nation.”

He further said that the $500 million grant agreement cannot be endorsed in its existing form.