March 13 (Reuters) - Bermuda's aviation regulator said it is suspending certification of many Russian airplanes in the British overseas territory due to international sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

"International sanctions on the aviation sector have had a significant impact on the ability to sustain safety oversight on Russian-operated aircraft," Bermuda's Civil Aviation Authority said on its website https://bit.ly/3Iai2st late on Saturday.

No air carrier is permitted to fly without a certificate of airworthiness, which is issued by the civil aviation authority in the country where it is registered.

The regulator said it is "unable to confidently approve these aircraft as being airworthy", and therefore as of late March 12, "suspended all Certificates of Airworthiness of those aircraft operating under the Article 83bis Agreement between Bermuda and the Russian Federation".

Mutual air closures by the European Union and Moscow over the war in Ukraine have left Russian aviation in near isolation.

Sanctions imposed by the EU in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine give leasing firms until March 28 to free themselves from deals with Russian airlines. BCAA's move furthers piles on the pressure since most of the foreign-owned planes operated by Russian carriers under lease are registered in Bermuda.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and "de-Nazify" the country.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)