MOSCOW, Sept. 28 - Russia on Monday said it would close its airspace to Ukrainian airlines from October 25 in reprisal for a ban that Ukraine has slapped on two Russian firms, AFP reported.

Acting on instructions from Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, the federal transport agency "has been asked to inform (Ukrainian) air companies providing flights to Russia that they will be forbidden to use Russian airspace from October 25," the official Tass news agency said, quoting a transport ministry spokesman.