Lumbering An-124 Condor Cargo Jet Appears In Kyiv’s Highly-Restricted Airspace

The show of a monolithic Antonov An-124 Ruslan (NATO reporting sanction Condor) cargo pitchy implicit Kyiv connected Friday sparked joyousness from Ukrainians, derision from Russians, and a enigma astir wherefore it was flying and wherever it came from. Airspace implicit the Ukrainian superior has been strictly closed chiefly to each non-combat craft flights since the commencement of Russia’s all-out invasion, which began connected Feb. 24, 2022. So seeing a locally-built An-124, a root of pridefulness for the Ukrainians, flying supra the superior erstwhile again was a astonishment for many, to accidental the least. So what was the Condor doing implicit Kyiv? The reply is unclear astatine the moment, but we person immoderate beardown indications of wherever it originated from and why.

You tin spot the pitchy successful the videos and inactive photographs below.

One of the world’s largest aircraft, for decades An-124 Condors person provided charter cargo services for occidental militaries, companies and NGOs. This includes Ukraine’s ain Antonov Airlines, which besides operated the An-124’s large brother, the mighty and present destroyed An-225. An-124s person been contracted by the U.S. and NATO to present warfare materiel bound for Ukraine to airbases successful Poland. This flight, however, appears to person originated successful Ukraine and ended successful Leipzig, Germany. Where it took disconnected from is simply a substance of contention.

The aircraft, with the process fig UR-82073, is registered to the aforementioned Antonov Airlines.

It is astir apt that the craft successful question had been stranded successful Ukraine since 2022 and took disconnected from the Svyatoshino airdrome successful Kyiv. That’s the office of the Antonov Serial Production Plant, which escaped mostly unscathed during the aboriginal days of the all-out warfare portion the adjacent Hostomel Airport was destroyed, on with the An-225 and different craft housed there, successful 1 of the archetypal battles of this conflict.

“It appears that an Antonov AN-124, UR-82073, has escaped from Ukraine to Liepzig, Germany aft being stranded for implicit 4 years,” X idiosyncratic @TheIntelFrog claimed connected the societal media platform. “The past formation I tin find for this craft was 13 March 2021 erstwhile it landed successful Kyiv.”

The Ukrainian General Staff Chat Telegram transmission concurred with that assessment.

“An-124-100 reg UR-82073 is being evacuated from Svyatoshino, wherever it has been lasting since the opening of the afloat standard war,” General Staff Chat posited.

Satellite imagery obtained by The War Zone seems to backmost up this assertion. Taken July 2 by Planet Labs, the representation shows that determination was 2 comparatively intact An-124s connected the apron astatine the time. One successful peculiar seems to person been active, with the craft moving to the runway connected July 5th.

We checked caller outer imagery of different airports successful Kyiv, and nary An-124s were present, speech from 1 that was derelict successful the craft graveyard astatine war-torn Hostomel Airport. There was different An-124 successful amended information that was wrong the ample hangar astatine Hostomel, but it excessively was acold from being successful flyable condition, astatine slightest arsenic it was photographed aft warring subsided astatine the airdrome successful 2022. It precise good could person been damaged beyond repair successful that fighting, we conscionable don’t know. It besides wears a antithetic registration than the craft seen flying implicit Kyiv.

Regardless, it is rather apt that the An-124 successful question was heading to Antonov’s installation successful Leipzig, Germany, wherever it moved a batch of its operations aft the 2022 invasion.

Adding to the mystery, others are claiming that the formation originated successful the Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro. There were suggestions that an craft appearing connected formation tracking information via an invalid transponder codification arsenic a drone with the callsign PTNPNH2 was really the Condor. The proposal that the craft was transmitting a mendacious transponder codification to mimic a drone seems highly questionable though, particularly since determination was different likewise named flight, PTNPNH1, that was besides spotted connected formation tracking sites.

Still, the Astra quality outlet and respective influential Russian Telegram channels enactment the proposition that the formation originated successful Dnipro.

“The aircraft, which took disconnected from Dnipro, is marked by the [flight tracking] work arsenic a ‘drone,’” Astra noted connected Telegram. “There is nary accusation astir the way of immoderate craft successful the entity implicit Ukraine connected Flightradar24.”

Russian Telegram channels claimed Ukraine was trying to determination the pitchy up of an anticipated onslaught connected the Dnipro region.

“The Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan spotted successful the entity implicit Kyiv took disconnected from the Dnepropetrovsk airport,” the Russian Military Informant Telegram claimed. “ It is imaginable that its owner, the Antonov company, is ferrying the level to occidental Ukraine oregon adjacent to Europe, wherever the level volition not beryllium destroyed. This is happening against the backdrop of the opening of warring successful the Dnepropetrovsk portion and the archetypal aerial strikes connected targets wrong the city.”

Still, this would not relationship for wherefore the An-124 was flying debased implicit Kyiv with its cogwheel transitioning.

Regardless, formation information from FlightRadar24 shows the AN-124 flying implicit occidental Ukraine adjacent the Polish borderline astatine 2:17 PM section time, but with nary origination point. It is highly apt that the pitchy turned disconnected its transponder until astir retired of Ukrainian airspace to assistance debar detection. The pitchy past flew implicit Poland and landed successful the German metropolis of Leipzig.

It is worthy noting that immoderate craft that ample would person fixed disconnected capable signatures for the Russians to easy spot it, astatine slightest if it climbed to higher altitudes (especially if nary A-50 is up). That the An-124 was capable to instrumentality disconnected from Ukraine and alert implicit Ukrainian airspace unscathed is simply a bony of contention for the fashionable Fighterbomber Telegram channel.

“A bittersweet event, of course. For our quality archetypal and foremost,” stated Figtherbomber, intimately tied to Russian subject aviation. “The bittersweet happening present is not that the An-124 arrived, but that it was capable to permission intact and unharmed. It arrived, of course, astatine night, later, erstwhile our agents are asleep.”

“There are virtually lone a mates of airfields successful Ukraine susceptible of receiving and dispatching an craft of this size,” Fighterbomber continued. “Organizing surveillance implicit them is simply a ineffable work of immoderate quality service. Of immoderate country. Moreover, it stayed determination for acold much than an hour. And we person plentifulness of means to onslaught it astatine immoderate airfield.”

Exactly what ‘surveillance implicit them’ the fashionable Telegram transmission is referring to isn’t clear, but it’s besides worthy noting that the runway astatine the Antonov works is lone 6,000-feet-long. An-124s tin alert retired of shorter fields erstwhile lightly loaded with cargo and gas.

While Russia whitethorn person the means, its ossified termination concatenation apt makes it hard to onslaught a dynamic target, adjacent 1 arsenic ample and lumbering arsenic an An-124. Lack of quality and/or Kyiv’s aerial defenses apt meant it wasn’t destroyed connected the crushed days anterior to its departure. Shooting down successful the aerial would beryllium a situation that would necessitate a precise long-range rocket changeable from either the aerial oregon the ground.

Regenerating an An-124 for cargo charter operations would beryllium a large triumph for Antonov Airlines and Ukraine. These operations are a large root of gross and enactment to enactment the warfare cognition directly. We person reached retired to Antonov to find retired much astir this enigma flight. We volition update this communicative with immoderate pertinent details provided.

While this is the archetypal clip an An-124 has been seen implicit Kyiv, it is not the archetypal clip ample cargo jets person been successful Ukrainian airspace since the full-on penetration kicked off. In December 2022, “two Turkish Air Force A400M craft that had been stranded astatine Kyiv-Boryspil International Airport since the commencement of the warfare were yet allowed to leave,” the Aerotime aviation website noted. “Originally sent connected a humanitarian mission, the craft remained grounded for 10 months earlier successfully returning to Turkey pursuing diplomatic negotiations.” It’s besides worthy noting that the runways and long, consecutive taxiways astatine airports astir Kyiv person had obstacles enactment connected them ever since the penetration began arsenic a countermeasure to support Russian craft afloat of commandos and worldly from landing connected them.

Meanwhile, careless of wherever it took disconnected from oregon why, seeing a non-threatening craft overhead was a enactment of caller aerial for immoderate Kyiv residents.

“I ne'er thought that an mean level successful the Ukrainian entity could origin truthful galore emotions

,” the Trukha quality outlet reported connected Telegram. “And earnestly – it’s a cargo An-124, not a rider one.”

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