UAE may have used sanctioned Russian airline for more than 100 missions — Defense News
The United Arab Emirates may have regularly used Aviacon Zitotrans, a Russian cargo airline under sanctions by the United States, Canada and Ukraine, for flights to Africa and other destinations. As Defense News reports, an analysis of thousands of flight records, internal company documents, aviation records and email correspondence points to more than 100 missions that may have been carried out since mid-2025 for the benefit of the UAE government and the country’s ruling family.
The investigation concerns Il-76 aircraft linked to Aviacon Zitotrans. The company was sanctioned for supporting Russia’s war effort, while three of its aircraft — RA-76842, RA-76502 and RA-76846 — were separately designated by the United States as blocked property.
Routes through Africa
According to the publication, the aircraft operated flights from airfields in the UAE, including the joint civil-military Al Ain Airport, Abu Dhabi Airport and, at times, military bases. They headed south and west toward the Gulf of Aden, where transponder signals disappeared and later reappeared before returning to the Emirates.
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Destinations that could be traced include Ethiopia, in particular Harar Meda Air Base and Addis Ababa International Airport. One aircraft, RA-76834, flew from Sweihan Air Base in the UAE to Bosaso in Somalia. Flights to a private airstrip in eastern Pakistan, which previous reports linked to Abu Dhabi’s ruling Al Nahyan family, were also recorded.
Connection to the war in Sudan
Defense News notes that the routes and operational patterns of these flights resemble those of other carriers linked to UAE support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s civil war. At the same time, aggressor state Russia, according to the publication, supports Sudan’s government and its armed forces. The publication indicates that the same aircraft may have operated flights connected to different sides of this conflict.
Margaux Garcia, a senior analyst at C4ADS, said that the systematic disappearance of transponder signals from aircraft of a single operator may indicate deliberate concealment of activity. The UAE embassies in Vienna and Washington, the country’s Foreign Ministry, the Abu Dhabi media office and Aviacon Zitotrans itself did not respond to the publication’s requests for comment.
