UAE turns to Russian shadow airline for missions in Africa: Investigation

VIENNA — The United Arab Emirates, a Western darling for security cooperation in the region, appears to have regularly used Aviacon Zitotrans, a sanctioned Russian airline linked to the Kremlin’s military and paramilitary operations, over the course of the past year, a Defense News investigation shows.

Analysis of thousands of flight records as well as gigabytes of leaked internal company documents, aviation filings and emails suggest a link between the sanctioned aircraft and more than 100 missions flown on behalf of the UAE government and its royal family since mid-2025.

The Russian company behind these planes, Aviacon Zitotrans, has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada and Ukraine for its support in Russia’s war effort. Previous reporting also revealed its role in sustaining Moscow’s mercenaries in Africa. The specific planes that pop up in the flight logs of UAE’s operations have been separately designated as blocked property by the U.S. government.

This article is the second in a multi-part series that uncovers the peculiar network of front companies, airlines and Soviet-era freight planes.

The UAE’s apparent use of a military-linked Russian cargo airline, alongside its role as a hub for Russian sanctions circumvention, runs contrary to Western efforts to isolate Moscow internationally and cut the Kremlin off from cash flows it needs to maintain its war against Ukraine.

Flight tracks collected by Defense News show that Aviacon Zitotrans’s Soviet-era Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft flew missions linking the UAE to destinations in Africa, following the same routes and operational patterns as those used by other operators that have been tied to the UAE’s support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s civil war. Several flights operated out of UAE military bases rather than civilian airports, implying a government connection.

Defense News reached out to the UAE embassies in Vienna and Washington, to the Abu Dhabi Media Office and the UAE’s foreign ministry for comment on the Aviacon Zitotrans links, but received no response. The airline itself also did not respond to a request for comment.

Other flights flown by Aviacon Zitotrans aircraft and identified by Defense News appear to have flown from the UAE to a private airstrip in eastern Pakistan known as Chandana Airstrip or Al Habieb Airport, which previous reporting has tied to the royal Al Nahyan ruling house of Abu Dhabi. The airstrip does not appear in online ICAO/IATA code databases or Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority lists . International reporting has identified it as a gateway to the Gulf royal family’s falconry hunting grounds in Pakistan.

Sparse videos and images exist on the internet of the airfield. Defense News reviewed footage showing large portraits of Gulf monarchs and Pakistani politicians next to the apron and framed in a plush airport waiting room, along with plenty of UAE flags flying alongside Pakistani ones. UAE personnel are flown in ahead of the royals’ use of the airstrip, according to a private plane tracker’s 2022 investigation .

When not operating on behalf of the UAE, Aviacon Zitotrans flies missions for the Russian government, including the shipment of weapons around the world. Leaked internal documents viewed by Defense News show that the airline has delivered combat helicopters to Southeast Asia, armored personnel vehicles to Turkey, and received a special exemption from the Russian government to fly missiles and their warheads.

The company lists “government and military airlifts” as one of its areas of operations on its website, touting that the Il-76 planes it uses are “capable of operating from short and unpaved runways” and “achieved an excellent reputation for its versatility and operational reliability.”

The cabin and rear ramp “provides smooth loading/unloading for many kinds of rolling stock, such as armored personnel carriers (APCs), utility trucks, trailers etc,” the company’s website explains.

“Aviacon Zitotrans specializes in using Il-76 aircraft, which are very helpful, very sturdy aircraft for transporting cargo and transporting people,” said Margaux Garcia, senior analyst with C4ADS, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization specializing in analyzing illicit networks. “They were originally built to be military transport aircraft, so it makes sense that they’re being used for that purpose.”

The company’s Russia-linked operations in Africa have previously attracted attention and prompted the U.S. government to sanction the airline. Sub-Saharan Africa was the main theatre of operations for the infamous Wagner Group, which has been rebranded as Africa Corps following the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

While most Western countries have cut trade with Russia and its state-affiliated entities to a minimum, and the European Union has banned all Russian aircraft from its airspace, the UAE government maintains friendly commercial and diplomatic relations. As a consequence, the country has turned into a hub for Russian sanctions circumvention and foreign procurement, a trend confirmed by the leaked Aviacon Zitotrans air waybills Defense News examined, which routinely showed the procurement of Western goods, including sanctioned electronics, through the Gulf monarchy.

Previous reporting by Reuters has also identified Dubai’s gold markets as a crucial lifeline for Russia, given its exclusion from global payment systems such as SWIFT.

At least three Aviacon Zitotrans-affiliated aircraft have flown routes that match known patterns of UAE government-sponsored missions since September 2025: RA-76842, RA-76502, RA-76846. Another aircraft, RA-76834, flew a mission connecting the UAE’s Sweihan Air Base to Bosaso, Somalia, a known Emirati logistics hub used for weapons shipments into Africa before Somali authorities canceled the relevant agreements with the UAE in January 2026.

“It perfectly makes sense within their business model that they would work for any kind of group that would be willing to fund them. It’s a similar type of work to the work that they seem to do for Russia. So it makes sense that they would expand into this other market,” said Garcia.

All three aircraft flying the vast majority of apparent UAE-chartered missions are explicitly listed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control as directly blocked property. Any other Aviacon Zitotrans airframes, including all that may have touched UAE territory on their Russian missions, are blocked by extension due to their connection to the company.

Most flights generally followed the same pattern: The aircraft would first depart a UAE airfield, usually the joint civil-military airport at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi airport, or, more rarely, a military base in the UAE. It would then fly south and west to the Gulf of Aden, where its transponder track would disappear. It would then reappear at the same location over the Gulf of Aden, flying back to the UAE later that day or a few days later.

Transponder conundrum

“If you notice that all of these planes that are run by the same airline all drop off of coverage, then that’s a notable pattern — especially if it happens that most other airplanes are able to travel through that area without dropping coverage,” said Garcia, whom Defense News showed its findings and data. “So it’s not a signal issue. It’s not a coverage issue. That suggests perhaps they are intentionally turning off their transponders; they’re hiding their activity.”

In total, Defense News identified well over 100 Aviacon Zitotrans sorties that had telltale characteristics of UAE government-linked cargo operations.

Defense News used a commercial aircraft tracking archive including ADS-B transponder and MLAT location data to follow the aircraft in question, building an extensive database of almost 9,000 flights conducted by a number of shadow airlines globally since early 2025. Each flight was manually reviewed. The data is often spotty due to deliberate obfuscation techniques or limited coverage, requiring pattern-matching and secondary sourcing through local reporting, ground photography and satellite imagery.

A handful of transponder tracks gave a more complete picture, filling in some of the blanks. A recurring destination was Ethiopia, particularly the Harar Meda Air Base, the Ethiopian military’s main air force facility, and Addis Ababa International Airport.

The Ethiopian embassies in Washington and Berlin did not return a request for comment.

The UAE and Russia are both deeply embroiled in the Sudanese civil war, but their governments support opposing sides. While Abu Dhabi supports the Rapid Support Forces, Russia has thrown its weight behind the government and its Sudanese Armed Forces. Aviacon Zitotrans’s apparent work for both the UAE and Russia has led to the situation that the same aircraft may be supplying opposing sides of the brutal civil war, sometimes flying from Russia and Turkey into Port Sudan, the SAF’s main supply point, and sometimes operating on UAE missions likely supporting the RSF through the African hinterland.

Aside from Africa, a handful of flights that took place during these aircraft’s apparent use by the UAE connected the Emirates to other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and Qatar.

Beyond the use of Aviacon Zitotrans aircraft, the UAE operates a fleet of cargo aircraft using front companies and ostensibly civilian charter cargo aircraft on similar missions, which Defense News will explore in a forthcoming investigation.

It’s unclear why UAE leaders picked Aviacon Zitotrans from the extensive market of cargo charter airlines. “It may be that they have seen Aviacon Zitotrans’s experience in this area, that they’ve worked in the same kind of high-sensitivity operations,” said Garcia.

The aircraft were also tracked flying other missions in equatorial and sub-Saharan Africa, including in Libya, Uganda, D.R. Congo and Nigeria, over the past year and a half. However, based on known patterns, many of these missions are likely to have been Russia-linked rather than on behalf of the UAE, even though the UAE was sometimes used as a stopover location or hub on the way.

Defense News has previously reported on an Aviacon Zitotrans Il-76 aircraft flying a secretive mission to Venezuela during mounting U.S. pressure on the country in October 2025. It was later revealed that the aircraft had delivered a Russian air defense system to Caracas. Intermediary refuelling stops are essential for these aircraft to cover such distances, as the range of the Ilyushin planes would otherwise be insufficient, the CEO of a different Russian shadow airline told Defense News as part of an earlier investigation.

“If this is the case that Aviacon is also running missions for the UAE alongside illicit missions for Russia, then it is significant because it shows that the UAE does not see the sanctions against Aviacon as a sufficient deterrent to stop working with them,” Garcia concluded.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——《防务新闻》的一项调查显示，在过去一年中，作为西方在该地区安全合作方面的宠儿，阿拉伯联合酋长国似乎经常使用与克里姆林宫军事和准军事行动有关联的受制裁俄罗斯航空公司 Aviacon Zitotrans。

对数千份飞行记录以及泄露的数GB内部公司文件、航空备案文件和电子邮件的分析表明，受制裁的飞机与自2025年中期以来代表阿联酋政府及其王室执行的100多次任务之间存在联系。

这些飞机的制造者——俄罗斯阿维亚康·齐托特兰斯公司（Aviacon Zitotrans）——因支持俄罗斯的战争行动而受到美国、加拿大和乌克兰的制裁。此前的报道还揭露了该公司在支持莫斯科在非洲的雇佣兵方面所扮演的角色。出现在阿联酋行动飞行记录中的这些特定飞机已被美国政府单独列为冻结财产。

本文是系列文章的第二篇，揭露了幌子公司、航空公司和苏联时代货运飞机之间错综复杂的网络。

阿联酋明显利用与军方有关联的俄罗斯货运航空公司，再加上其作为俄罗斯规避制裁的枢纽，这与西方在国际上孤立莫斯科、切断克里姆林宫维持对乌克兰战争所需的资金来源的努力背道而驰。

《防务新闻》收集的飞行轨迹显示，阿维亚康·齐托特兰斯公司（Aviacon Zitotrans）的苏联时代伊尔-76飞机执行了连接阿联酋和非洲各地的任务，其航线和操作模式与其他与阿联酋支持苏丹内战中快速支援部队有关的运营商相同。一些航班从阿联酋军事基地而非民用机场起飞，这表明这些航班与政府有关。

《防务新闻》就Aviacon与Zitotrans之间的关联联系了阿联酋驻维也纳和华盛顿大使馆、阿布扎比媒体办公室以及阿联酋外交部，但均未收到回复。航空公司本身也未回应置评请求。

据《防务新闻》报道，由Aviacon Zitotrans公司运营的其他航班似乎从阿联酋飞往巴基斯坦东部一个名为Chandana Airstrip或Al Habieb Airport的私人简易机场。此前的报道曾指出，该机场与阿布扎比王室Al Nahyan家族有关。该简易机场并未出现在国际民航组织/国际航空运输协会（ICAO/IATA）的在线代码数据库或巴基斯坦民航局的名单中。国际媒体报道称，该机场是通往海湾王室在巴基斯坦猎鹰场的门户。

互联网上关于该机场的视频和图片寥寥无几。《防务新闻》查阅的视频显示，停机坪旁和豪华的机场候机室里都挂着海湾君主和巴基斯坦政客的大幅画像，此外还有许多阿联酋国旗与巴基斯坦国旗并排飘扬。据一家私人飞机追踪公司2022年的调查显示，在王室成员使用该机场之前，阿联酋人员会先乘飞机抵达。

除了为阿联酋执行任务外，Aviacon Zitotrans 还为俄罗斯政府执行飞行任务，包括向世​​界各地运送武器。据《防务新闻》查阅的泄露内部文件显示，该航空公司已向东南亚运送了作战直升机，向土耳其运送了装甲运兵车，并获得了俄罗斯政府的特别许可，可以运输导弹及其弹头。

该公司在其网站上将“政府和军事空运”列为其业务领域之一，并吹嘘其使用的伊尔-76飞机“能够在短跑道和未铺设跑道上起降”，并且“因其多功能性和运行可靠性而享有盛誉”。

该公司网站解释说，驾驶室和后坡道“可为多种类型的车辆（如装甲运兵车、多用途卡车、拖车等）提供平稳的装卸作业”。

“Aviacon Zitotrans公司专门使用伊尔-76飞机，这种飞机非常实用，而且非常坚固，适合运输货物和人员，”总部位于美国的非营利组织C4ADS的高级分析师玛戈·加西亚说道。该组织专门分析非法网络。“它们最初是作为军用运输机设计的，所以它们被用于这个用途也就不足为奇了。”

该公司在非洲与俄罗斯有关联的业务此前就已引起关注，并促使美国政府对其实施制裁。撒哈拉以南非洲曾是臭名昭著的瓦格纳集团的主要业务区域，该集团在其领导人叶夫根尼·普里戈任去世后更名为非洲军团。

尽管大多数西方国家已将与俄罗斯及其国有实体的贸易削减至最低限度，欧盟也已禁止所有俄罗斯飞机飞越其领空，但阿联酋政府仍与俄罗斯保持着友好的商业和外交关系。因此，阿联酋已成为规避俄罗斯制裁和进行海外采购的枢纽。《防务新闻》查阅的泄露的Aviacon Zitotrans空运提单证实了这一趋势，这些提单显示，阿联酋经常通过这个海湾君主国采购西方商品，其中包括受制裁的电子产品。

路透社此前的报道也指出，鉴于俄罗斯被排除在 SWIFT 等全球支付系统之外，迪拜的黄金市场是俄罗斯的重要生命线。

自 2025 年 9 月以来，至少有三架隶属于 Aviacon Zitotrans 公司的飞机飞行路线与阿联酋政府资助任务的已知模式相符：RA-76842、RA-76502 和 RA-76846。另一架飞机 RA-76834 执行了一项连接阿联酋苏韦汉空军基地和索马里博萨索的任务。博萨索是阿联酋已知的后勤枢纽，曾用于向非洲运送武器，但在索马里当局于 2026 年 1 月取消了与阿联酋的相关协议后，该枢纽一直被用作武器运输的基地。

“从他们的商业模式来看，只要有资金支持，他们就会为任何团体工作，这完全合情合理。这和他们为俄罗斯所做的工作很相似。所以，他们拓展到其他市场也就不足为奇了，”加西亚说道。

执飞绝大多数疑似阿联酋包机任务的三架飞机均被美国外国资产控制办公室明确列为直接冻结财产。任何其他属于Aviacon Zitotrans公司的飞机，包括所有可能在执行俄罗斯任务期间飞越阿联酋领空的飞机，都因与该公司存在关联而被间接冻结。

大多数航班的飞行模式大致相同：飞机首先从阿联酋的某个机场起飞，通常是艾因的军民两用机场、阿布扎比机场，或者极少数情况下从阿联酋境内的军事基地起飞。之后，飞机向南偏西飞至亚丁湾，其应答器航迹会在那里消失。随后，飞机会在亚丁湾上空的同一地点重新出现，并在当天晚些时候或几天后飞回阿联酋。

转发器难题

“如果你注意到同一家航空公司运营的所有飞机都突然失去信号覆盖，那这绝对是一个值得注意的现象——尤其是在其他大多数飞机都能顺利飞越该区域的情况下，”加西亚说道。他向《防务新闻》展示了调查结果和数据。“所以这不是信号问题，也不是覆盖范围问题。这表明他们或许是故意关闭应答器，试图掩盖自己的飞行活动。”

《防务新闻》总共发现了超过 100 架次 Aviacon Zitotrans 飞机，这些飞机具有与阿联酋政府有关的货物运输行动的明显特征。

《防务新闻》利用包含ADS-B应答器和MLAT定位数据的商业飞机跟踪档案，追踪了涉事飞机，并建立了一个庞大的数据库，其中包含自2025年初以来多家影子航空公司在全球范围内执行的近9000次航班的记录。每条航班记录都经过人工审核。由于蓄意混淆或覆盖范围有限，数据往往不完整，因此需要通过模式匹配和当地报道、地面照片和卫星图像等辅助信息来源进行验证。

少数应答器航迹提供了更完整的信息，填补了一些空白。反复出现的目的地是埃塞俄比亚，特别是哈拉尔梅达空军基地（埃塞俄比亚空军的主要设施）和亚的斯亚贝巴国际机场。

埃塞俄比亚驻华盛顿和柏林大使馆均未回复置评请求。

阿联酋和俄罗斯都深陷苏丹内战，但两国政府支持的却是截然相反的双方。阿布扎比支持快速支援部队，而俄罗斯则全力支持苏丹政府及其武装部队。Aviacon Zitotrans公司同时为阿联酋和俄罗斯提供服务，导致同一架飞机可能同时为这场残酷内战的对立双方提供补给。这些飞机有时从俄罗斯和土耳其飞往苏丹港——苏丹武装部队的主要补给站，有时则执行阿联酋的任务，很可能是在非洲内陆地区支援快速支援部队。

除了非洲以外，在阿联酋使用这些飞机期间，还有一些航班将阿联酋与其他海湾国家连接起来，包括科威特和卡塔尔。

除了使用 Aviacon Zitotrans 飞机外，阿联酋还运营着一支货运飞机机队，利用幌子公司和表面上是民用包机货运飞机执行类似任务，Defense News 将在即将进行的调查中对此进行探究。

目前尚不清楚阿联酋领导人为何从众多货运包机航空公司中选择Aviacon Zitotrans。“或许是因为他们看到了Aviacon Zitotrans在该领域的经验，以及该公司在类似高敏感性运营方面的经验，”加西亚说道。

过去一年半以来，这些飞机还被追踪到在赤道和撒哈拉以南非洲地区执行其他任务，包括利比亚、乌干达、刚果民主共和国和尼日利亚。然而，根据已知的模式，尽管阿联酋有时被用作中转站或枢纽，但其中许多任务很可能与俄罗斯有关，而非代表阿联酋执行。

《防务新闻》此前曾报道，2025年10月，在美国对委内瑞拉施加越来越大压力之际，一架隶属于俄罗斯阿维亚康·齐托特兰斯公司的伊尔-76运输机执行了一项秘密任务，飞往委内瑞拉。后来证实，这架飞机向加拉加斯运送了一套俄罗斯防空系统。此前，《防务新闻》曾对另一家俄罗斯影子航空公司的首席执行官进行过调查，他表示，对于这些飞机来说，中途加油对于覆盖如此远的航程至关重要，否则伊尔-76的航程将不足以完成任务。

“如果情况确实如此，Aviacon 除了为俄罗斯执行非法任务外，还为阿联酋执行任务，那么这意义重大，因为它表明阿联酋认为对 Aviacon 的制裁不足以阻止其与该公司合作，”加西亚总结道。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。