A blacklisted Russian cargo plane, operated by Abakan Air, made an unscheduled landing in South Africa on Thursday, arriving with a heavy load and departing later the same day with an empty hold, according to local reports from Johannesburg’s Rapport. The aircraft's journey saw it travel via Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Upington in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. Following a refueling stop at Lanseria Airport near Johannesburg, the plane left the country. Data from FlightRadar24 indicates the plane was in Iran prior to its flight to South Africa.

The United States had previously placed both the aircraft and its operator, Abakan Air, on a blacklist last year due to their involvement in the transportation of Russian military equipment. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) website confirms that Russia’s Abakan Air has indeed been sanctioned.

This incident resurrects memories of a similar event three years prior, when a Russian cargo ship docked at a naval base near Cape Town, igniting a significant diplomatic dispute between Pretoria and Washington. At the time, the former US Ambassador to South Africa alleged that weapons were loaded onto the ship. The subsequent fallout cast a shadow over South Africa’s preferential trade access to the world’s largest economy, leading to a record low for the rand against the dollar. A judicial probe initiated by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate the US ambassador’s claims.

Relations between Washington and Pretoria have reportedly deteriorated further since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to the article. During this period, Trump is said to have frozen US aid to South Africa and imposed the highest import tariffs in sub-Saharan Africa, based on an unsubstantiated claim that the South African government was overseeing a genocide of White Afrikaans farmers. Furthermore, American lawmakers are currently considering legislation that would seek a comprehensive review of the ties between the two nations, citing allegations that Pretoria supports adversaries of the United States.

While the precise purpose of the Russian aircraft’s recent trip to South Africa remains unknown, it would have been necessary for the operator to apply for a foreign operator’s permit from South Africa’s Department of Transport. Rapport reported that the department did not respond to its inquiries regarding the flight. A spokesperson for the department, Collen Msibi, stated that a response to a query from Bloomberg would be provided on Monday, once officials responsible for permits could access official documents.

Adding to its complexities, Abakan Air is also reportedly on a debt watchlist, facing payment arrears for various aviation services, including fuel.