The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Feb. 24 announced it is restricting American airlines and pilots flying over Ukraine and nearby Belarus. The FAA, which had already restricted flights over eastern Ukraine, issued Notices to Air Missions that now cover the entire country of Ukraine, all of Belarus, and western Russia. “These restrictions do not apply to military operations,” the agency said in a statement to news outlets. They do apply to civilian and cargo flights. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a similar notice, with a larger buffer added along the Russia-Ukraine border. “This extension reflects the operational reality and takes account of the assessed risk posed by the threat of missile launches to and from Ukraine,” the agency said in a statement. The notices came after the Russian Ministry of Defense told Ukraine there was a high risk to flight safety of aircraft because of the war …