A plane belonging to a Russian carrier subject to US sanctions visited South Africa.

South Africa has granted flight clearance to the Russian airline Abakan Air, which has been under US sanctions since last year. South African authorities stated they were unaware of the carrier's blacklisting.

South African publication Rapport reported that on October 2, an Il-76 belonging to Abakan Air landed with cargo at Upington Airport in the Northern Cape Province, arriving from Tanzania, then refueled at Lanseria Airport near Johannesburg and flew to Somalia.

According to the publication, Abakan Air is also on the debtor list due to outstanding payments for aviation services, including fuel. According to its website, its cargo plane was briefly held in Iran before departing for South Africa.

South African Department of Transport spokesman Collen Msibi said:BLOOMBERG , that on September 23 the agency issued a permit to the foreign operator of the airline "Abakan Air" for the transportation of general cargo, civilian helicopters and "acrobatic" (aerobatic) aircraft.

According to Msibi, no country has notified South Africa that the carrier is subject to sanctions. "It should also be noted that the South African government has not blacklisted the operator," he added.

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) website lists Abakan Air as a sanctioned airline. The carrier was blacklisted in December of last year.

Moscow considers the sanctions illegal and demands their lifting.

Abakan Air's website states that the company carries out "federal and international orders for cargo charter transportation and provides other services, including complex aviation operations and unique logistics solutions."

In the spring of 2023, then-US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety stated that in December 2022, the Russian vessel Lady R, previously sanctioned by Washington, called at a national naval base in southwest South Africa and was loaded with weapons. The diplomat believed Pretoria was supplying weapons to Moscow. Washington expressed concern about this.

Because of this statement, Brigety was summoned to the South African Foreign Ministry. The ministry announced that the US ambassador apologized for his remarks about South Africa supplying RUSSIA with weapons.

South African authorities refused to disclose details of the vessel's visit to the base. The country's Ministry of Defense stated that "whatever contents were delivered to this vessel were ordered well before the covid [pandemic]." A commission of inquiry was established in South Africa, which found no evidence that any weapons were loaded onto the Lady R.

HEAD of the Russian Ministry of Foreign AffairsSergei Lavrov , commenting on the situation, said: “If the American or any other overseas ambassador thought something was wrong, then they should generally know their place and not meddle in other people’s affairs.”

ReadPIONERPRODUKT .by inTELEGRAM .