When Bulgaria refused to allow Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's plane to cross its airspace, and Mr Lavrov's plane had to be diverted to Greece and Turkey on his way to a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Security in North Macedonia, Ms Zakharova lashed out at the "evil stupidity of Russo-haters".

Because of Russia's all-out war in Ukraine, Europe has imposed sanctions against Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and many other officials, barring them from entering the European Union. Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has refused to allow Russia to attend its 2022 meeting.

However, the OSCE invited the Russian Foreign Minister to attend the 2023 OSCE Ministerial Conference to be held in Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, from November 30 to December 1, and he readily agreed.

In order for Lavrov to successfully travel to North Macedonia to attend the OSCE ministerial meeting, the European Union took temporary exemption measures for him to allow him to enter the EU territory. Lavrov's plane was supposed to fly through Bulgarian airspace to North Macedonia, but the trip did not go smoothly.

The problem lies with his favorite general, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. When Bulgaria reviewed the passenger list submitted by the Russian Foreign Ministry, it found that Zakharova was also on the list, so Bulgaria informed the Russian Foreign Ministry that the European Union had not granted Zakharova a temporary exemption and she could not travel to North Macedonia on Lavrov's plane, otherwise Lavrov's plane could not cross Bulgaria's airspace.

Lavrov did not abandon Harova, insisting on taking her to North Macedonia for the OSCE ministerial meeting, and Bulgaria refused to allow his experts to fly over its airspace. In desperation, Russia asked Greece and Turkey to allow Mr. Lavrov's plane to pass through their airspace on its way to North Macedonia, and both countries, which have good relations with Russia, quickly agreed.

Bulgaria's refusal to allow Lavrov's plane carrying Zakharova to cross its airspace humiliated Russia and humiliated Zakharova herself. She was furious.

On November 30, Zakharova lashed out at Bulgaria on her Telegram channel: "The evil stupidity of Russophores has reached the point that, for the first time in our history, the official authorities have banned not planes, but the people on them from flying in the sky." There was no mention of whether I could fly over Bulgaria without a plane, or whether outer space could be used to do that."

Zakharova said air traffic rules are governed by the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. It states that national territory is to be understood as "land territory and adjacent territorial waters". The term "territory" does not include airspace. In this regard, EU sanctions, which are already illegal, cannot be extended to direct flights by persons who are banned from entering the territory of the country.