A cargo plane shot down in Sudan earlier this week may have had a Russian crew and was supplying weapons and ammunition to the country's army, Reuters reported on Oct. 24, citing sources and documents from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan's paramilitary RSF claimed to have shot down a cargo plane in Darfur on Oct. 21, with speculation at the time that Russian nationals may have been on board.
The aircraft was identified as an Il-74 transport plane that was used to supply weapons, ammunition and provisions to the city of Al Fashir in Sudan, where the Sudanese army is trying to repel RSF's attacks, an RSF source told Reuters.
It is not yet known what route the plane was taking and under what circumstances it was shot down. It had just made a delivery when hit, according to Reuters' source.
The crew may have included 67-year-old Russian Viktor Granov, who allegedly had ties to Russian infamous arms dealer Viktor Bout who was released in a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. in 2022.
Previously, Granov reportedly ran two airlines that were accused of violating the arms embargo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Remnants of documents found at the scene also suggest 33-year-old Russian Anton Selivanets was also on board the downed plane, Reuters wrote, citing footage shared by the RSF.
The RSF also sent the news agency a video they said came from a mobile phone recovered from the plane. Reuters identified one of the men in the footage as a 61-year-old Russian Alexander Kabanov, who posted the same video to his social media accounts over a year ago.
According to Kabanov's accounts, he served in the elite airborne troops and spent several years in Africa, including Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan.
Reuters could not confirm who the phone belonged to.
Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war since April 2023 between the military government of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under General Hemedti.
Both Russia and Ukraine have played a complex role in the fighting, with the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group previously backing the RSF, while Ukrainian commandos reportedly arrived in Sudan in August 2023 to support the government.
Russia maintains a strong presence in several African countries like Sudan through Wagner and other entities, propping up authoritarian governments, fueling destabilization, and extracting resources to fund its war against Ukraine.
Claims have previously appeared in other media publications that Ukrainian special forces took part in operations in Sudan and are responsible for strikes against Wagner-backed militants.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Sudan's de facto ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, appealed to Ukraine for assistance in the summer of 2023 while besieged by rebel forces.
Kyiv responded positively in order to curb Russia's influence abroad, but also because "Burhan had been quietly supplying Kyiv with weapons since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022," the outlet wrote.
Francis Farrell
(Updated: )
