Canada to Hand Over to Ukraine An-124 Aircraft Seized from Russia

The Canadian government will hand over Russian-registered Antonov An-124 freighter seized at Toronto Pearson Airport last year to Ukraine.

"Today, thanks to the legislation that we passed, we confiscate this aircraft, which was owned by Russia, and begin the process of transferring this asset to Ukraine so that it will never be used by Russia again in support of the war," Canadian PM said.

After An-225 Mriya was destroyed by the Russians when they bombed the Gostomel Airport last year, the An-124 held the title of the world’s largest operational aircraft.

This large four-engine plane has been entrapped since it landed in Canada in February 2022. It had landed two hours before Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft. The Antonov An-124 was delivering rapid COVID tests on its last cargo assignment.

The aircraft is believed to be owned by a subsidiary of Volga-Dnepr Airlines LLC and Volga-Dnepr Group, two entities against which Canada recently imposed sanctions.

“The seizure of the asset was made possible by the new asset seizure and forfeiture authorities under Canada’s autonomous sanctions regimes put forward in Budget 2022 and is in direct response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022,” Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, said in a statement on June 10.

Aside from the seized asset, Volga-Dnepr Airlines currently has ten An-124 freighters, three of which are stuck at Leipzig Halle Airport (LEJ) in Germany.