US-blacklisted Russian cargo plane lands in SA, raising diplomatic tensions

A RUSSIAN cargo aircraft which has been blacklisted by the US and landed in Upington on Thursday, was offloading transport general cargo, civilian helicopters and acrobatic aeroplanes, the Department of Transport confirmed on Sunday.

- MANYANE MANYANE [e-mail]

The aircraft belongs to Abakan Air, which was blacklisted by the US in June 2024, for transporting Russian military equipment and supporting Russia's defence industrial base during its war against Ukraine. The landing of Abakan Air in South Africa has raised concerns that this could exacerbate the already prickly relationship between South Africa and the US.

According to media reports, the Ilyushin IL-76 cargo aircraft landed heavily loaded before it was later seen empty when it stopped for fuel at Lanseria Airport. The last recorded position on Flightrader24 (FR24) for the aircraft shows that before the long flight to South Africa via Dar es Salaam, it had been in Iran for a considerable time.

The US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Moscow-based cargo airline as part of a larger round of sanctions targeting Russia.