El Al's attempt to establish a flight route between Israel and St. Petersburg has been rebuffed by Russia, N12 reported on Thursday, allegedly in order to "punish" Israel.
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.
According to N12, Russia barred El Al's plan after the Russian airline Aeroflot was prevented from landing in Israel following US and European sanctions against Russian companies.
A different Russian airline, Red Wings, continues to maintain a flight route between Israel and Russia, N12 reported.
Ukraine drones ground Russian flights
In June, Ukrainian drone attacks against Russia led to flights out of all major Moscow airports being grounded, for a total of over 500 flight delays.
At the time, Kyiv cast its strikes as a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in the city.
Reuters contributed to this report.