Russia forces United flight to divert

[spuwho]

News reports are saying that Russian air traffic control denied a United SFO to Shanghai flight to cross Russian airspace. The flight was forced to divert to Tokyo Narita to refuel.

The pilot came on the intercom and reported the diversion due to "diplomatic reasons"

The FAA is reporting that re-routes are common when the needed paperwork is not in place for overflights, but they were checking what the specific reasons were in this case.

[Adam White]

Looks like Russia just "re-accommodated" their asses.