Follow the Russian AN-124s!
Russian AN-124 Cargo Flights to China, South Korea, and New York Under Trump
Those charged with investigating and taking down criminal organizations typically assert how its always best to “follow the money.†When it comes to who is supplying and enabling Putin’s genocidal attack on Ukraine with military equipment, I would say: “Follow the AN-124s.†In fact, let’s take the investigation all the way back to 2018.
Russian AN-124 Flights To/From China Since Ukraine Invasion Launched
On June 5, 2022, what is now the world’s largest aircraft type currently in service since the Russians destroyed the one AN-125 Mriya in existence at Hostumel Airport during the battle of Kyiv, an AN-124 Ruslan transport owned by the Russian air cargo company Volga-Dnepr, tail number RA-82079, departed from Hong Kong, China, three months after Putin invaded Ukraine. Four and a half hours later, it landed in Russia in Irkutsk. The flight path and flight details are shown above and below as published by flightaware.com. Below its its recent flight history.
One week later, the same AN-124, tail number RA-82079, was spotted at China’s Shijiazhuang airport where it then took off and landed in Novosibirsk Russia before it flew on to Minsk in Belarus, landing on June 13th, smack in the middle of Russia’s hot war in Ukraine which, incidentally, is being partially prosecuted through Minsk thanks to Putin’s lapdog Alexander Lukashenko.
What’s on Those AN-124s?
Who can say what cargo was being delivered by China to Russia, or through China via the port of Hong Kong from, say, North Korea or India? We do not yet know. Calls to the Chinese embassy in Washington DC are not even answered, and their voice mailbox says it is full. An email request for comment to the email address the Chinese embassy posts for press inquiries, has gone unanswered.
These AN-124 cargo aircraft are typically chartered to fly outsized cargo that needs to be delivered fast (can you say APCs, missiles, ammo in the middle of a hot war, etc.) rather than waiting for ground or maritime shipping. For example, Ukrainian An-124s owned and operated by Ukrainian Antonov Airlines are sometimes chartered by CAE Systems in Florida to deliver their fully assembled flight simulators to various NATO countries. Further, the USAF Air Mobility Command itself, after retiring its fleet of giant C-5 transports, would sometimes charter AN-124’s from Volga-Dnepr (via its now-shuttered US subsidiary in Texas) to meet its outsize military cargo hauling needs. One would imagine that era is over.
About Russian Volga-Dnepr and its Owner Alexey Isaikin
Alexey Isaikin, owner and President of Volga-Dnepr Group, is an ex-Soviet Russian military colonel. He would found Volga-Dnepr in the aftermath of the dissolution of the USSR where he somehow was able to acquire a fleet of AN-124’s previously used by the USSR air force and refurbished them. Volga-Dnepr boasts a fleet of 12 AN-124s, plus other large cargo aircraft such as 747s.
Trump Allows Russian AN-124 Cargo Flight Between New York and Russia in 2018
And as if the current AN-124 cargo flights into Russia from China aren’t bad enough, on November 13, 2018, Russian Volga-Dnepr AN-124 Tail Number RA-82068 took off from New York’s Steward International Airport in New Windsor for a non-stop flight to Bolshoye Savino airport in Perm Russia. See below flight information.
Serious Questions Raised
It is noted that Steward Airport is both a commercial and a US military airport. It is home to the 105th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard, part of the Military Airlift Command. This raises the following questions. Which Russian nationals came into America on the inbound flight? Were they Russian spies posing as “diplomats†that were replacing the 60 Russian spies kicked out by Trump’s executive order in March of 2018 that contained a loophole for Putin to allow Russian spy replacements as was reported in Russi Leaks’ recent exposé on Putin Ordering the Assassination of Americans on US Soil? Can the US government (i.e., US customs, the DoD, airport security footage, etc.) release the passport photographs and identities of the inbound and departing Russians so American citizens can identify them to the FBI if they’ve seen them? Were two of the Russians flown in the two GRU officers identified and pictured in Russi Leaks’ June 8th exposé, shown again here below, operating undercover as either “diplomats†or Volga-Dnepr “flight crew?â€
Further, the Russian airport in Perm is actually a Russian Air Force base housing the 764th Fighter Regiment (unit # – 88503) which belongs to the 21st Mixed Aviation Division (HQ in Chelyabinsk) of the 14th Air and Air Defense Forces Army (HQ in Yekaterinburg). It houses various MiG-31 interceptor variants, including the MiG-31BM. This was obviously a military or spy flight operating under the livery and ownership of a Russian commercial cargo carrier owned by a former Russian (USSR) colonel, now a Russian oligarch. Had it been above-board, the Russians would have sent one of its AN-124s operated by the Russian Federation Air Force proper, not their commercial carrier Volga-Dnepr.
So Russi Leaks wants to know: Who within the Trump administration approved this massive Russian cargo aircraft flight into our military air base in New York? Who quietly protested it? Were there patriots in US military intelligence or FBI counter-intelligence protesting this Russian cargo flight? Where they ordered to keep silent by their commanding officers upon threat of retaliation? Was disgraced General Michael Flynn involved? How about his brother Lt. General Charles Flynn, the general who refused to order the National Guard to the US Capitol on January 6th as the Capitol Police were pleading for him to deploy the Guard unit waiting, and waiting, in the bus at the DC National Guard Armory? How about Blackwater CEO Erik Prince?
AN-124 Ruslans at Tampa Airport
(Source: Tampa Airport Facebook Page video footage)
Ukrainian AN-124s owned by Antonov Airlines have landed at Tampa International Airport several times over the years. They seem to mostly be carrying flight similators for CAE Systems to be delivered to NATO partners. The pictures below are from one such a visit on September 8, 2019 documented by a Tampa Airport security officer with a 27-minute narrated video on Tampa Airport’s Facebook page.
Unidentified AN-124 At Tampa Airport on October 20, 2019
Finally, it is noted that an AN-124 was spotted and photographed at the Tampa airport on October 20, 2019 sitting alone on the tarmac near a cargo hanger. It apparently departed on October 21, 2019. Russi Leaks has not yet been able to find out its tail number or ownership and is waiting on government response to freedom of information act requests submitted to various federal agencies. It is not yet known whether the aircraft was Russian or Ukrainian. The Tampa Airport media rep was not able to verify its ownership and there was no airport video security footage available. This just happens to be the exact same period the American referenced in the aforementioned Russi Leaks exposé was poisoned by heavy metals by Russians in his Tampa-area apartment in Redington Shores. Coincidence? Maybe not. Stay tuned.
Russian AN-124 Flight from Incheon South Korea to Russia
Finally, of all places one wouldn’t expect to see a Russian AN-124 land in the middle of Putin’s hot war in Ukraine, on March 9, 2022, Volga-Dnepr tail number RA-82047 flew from Incheon airport which is located to the west of Seoul and flew non-stop to Ulyanovsk Russia. What’s that about? So far, Russi Leaks’ requests for comment and information to the South Korean embassy in DC has gone unanswered. As a former Korean linguist in the USAF who once stood side-by-side with ROK soldiers standing watch against the North Korean enemy while stationed at Osan Air Force Base in 1980, their silence to date is particularly frustrating. Stay tuned.