Russia opens investigation into reports of cargo plane shot down in Sudan

Russia said Monday it was investigating reports of a cargo plane shot down in Sudan by fighters from a paramilitary force.

Earlier on Monday, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have shot down a cargo plane in the western region of Darfur. The Associated Press (AP) reported that cellphone footage appeared to show debris while RSF fighters displayed what appeared to be identity documents found in the crashed plane.

But other documents seen in the clips reportedly indicate the downed plane may have come from an airline formerly linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which allegedly supplied weapons to the RSF after the paramilitary group became involved in conflict underway against the Sudanese. Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023. The UAE has called allegations that it armed the RSF “totally false” and “baseless”.

The Russian Embassy in Khartoum said in a message that Russians may have been on board the downed plane and that its diplomats had begun investigating the crash. In images of RSF fighters at the scene of the wreck, one of the identity documents allegedly seen was a Russian passport.

The RSF said in a statement that its forces had shot down a “foreign warplane” that was operating on behalf of the Sudanese army. The statement added that the cargo plane dropped bombs on civilians, although RSF provided no evidence to support this assertion.

“All foreign mercenaries on board the plane were eliminated during the operation,” the RSF statement said, according to the AP.

The fighters in the phone footage said they used a surface-to-air missile to shoot down the plane. An ID document from a company based in the United Arab Emirates was among the documents shown in the images. Another document identified the plane as an Ilyushin Il-76 and linked it to Kyrgyz airline New Way Cargo.

The AP did not receive a response from civil aviation officials in Kyrgyzstan as of press time after requesting comment Monday evening.

At the same time, the Conflict Observatory group, funded by the US State Department, linked New Way Cargo’s Ilyushin Il-76s to UAE weapons sent to the RSF in a report published in early October.

The report states that New Way Cargo was transferring weapons from the United Arab Emirates via flights to Maréchal Idriss Deby International Airport in Amdjarass, Chad.

Amdjarass is located across the border from Malha, Darfur, which is the site of the aerial incident.

UAE officials did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.