# 2024 Darfur Ilyushin Il-76 shootdown

On 21 October 2024, a cargo Ilyushin Il-76 that had previously been suspected operating by New Way Cargo Airlines was shot down over the Darfur region of western Sudan by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the Sudanese civil war. All five people aboard were killed. The ownership of the aircraft remains unclear. The aircraft is believed to have been operated by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on a mission to deliver equipment and medicine to the army-held city of Al-Fashir. Despite this, initial reporting stated that the aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76 registered as EX-76011 with serial number 0013428831 operated by New Way Cargo Airlines on behalf of the United Arab Emirates supplying the RSF. However, the aircraft was reportedly exported to Sudan on 12 January 2024 where it was re-registered ST-JAN; the initial report that it was EX-76011 was on account of a safety card bearing this registration being found in the wreckage.

## Background
### Political situation

Since 15 April 2023, a civil war broke out in Sudan between the Government of Sudan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). At the time of the accident, the RSF controlled most of Darfur and Gezira State, along with parts of central Sudan, and an area near the border with Libya. The United Arab Emirates financially and militarily supports the RSF in the war, and although officially the UAE airlift operation in Chad is for delivering humanitarian aid many sources, including UN experts, say that the UAE used those planes to deliver military supplies to the RSF.

### Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76 registered as EX-76011 with serial number 0013428831. It was manufactured in 1981 and was previously operated by New Way Cargo Airlines. There were five crew members on board, two Russians and three Sudanese, according to RT, the pilot was Anton Selivanets. On the crash site were also found document belonging to Viktor Granov, a Russian pilot who owned the airlines Aircargo Services International and Grand Propeller. Although documents from Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan were found on the accident site, it appears that no employees of the airport were on the aircraft. A spokesperson for New Way Cargo, which is also based in Kyrgyzstan, said that its lease on the aircraft had expired at the end of 2023.

## Incident

The aircraft was reportedly hit by missiles fired by the RSF, while it was flying over Darfur. Videos of the crash show the plane on fire diving towards the ground before crashing. The RSF claimed to have recovered the plane's black boxes and some documents it was carrying. A safety pamphlet and a Russian passport were found on the crash site. The RSF troops in Darfur might have been unaware of the flights that were flying over the region at the time, instead they were expecting attacks from the Sudanese Air Force.

## Aftermath

The United Arab Emirates initially denied its involvement with the crashed plane despite the evidence. Initially, RSF commander Ali Rizqallah claimed that they had just shot down an Antonov of the Egyptian Air Force that was carrying weapons or bombing Darfur. The Russian embassy in Sudan stated that they were in contact with the Sudanese Government after the accident, since the plane was carrying two Russian nationals.