Itamilradar website revealed on Friday that Russia had launched an airbridge with Libya, saying that two Ilyushin-76TD aircraft (numbers RA-76841 and RA-76845) belonging to the Ministry of Emergency Situations – which also performs frequent missions on behalf of the Ministry of Defense – were making alternating flights between Russia and eastern Libya, specifically Al-Khadim air base located east of Benghazi.
The Italian flight tracking website added, “It is known that Russian military assets and personnel previously associated with the Wagner Group and now part of the so-called Russian Africa Corps are present in Libya.”
The website pointed out that Moscow’s focus had shifted toward Cyrenaica, especially after the fall of Assad regime in Syria, stressing the possibility of establishing air and naval bases in the region.
It also explained that NATO still faced a major challenge, adding that these flights were only possible because Turkey remained the only NATO member that had not closed its airspace to Russian aircraft.
