Canada plans to hand over Russian An-124 cargo plane to Ukraine after its trial ends
Canada intends to hand over a large Russian Antonov An-124 cargo plane to Ukraine after the completion of the legal process for its formal confiscation, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said, Reuters reports.
“The Antonov aircraft stands as a powerful symbol of accountability. Those who enable Russia’s war will face consequences and Ukraine will not be left to rebuild alone,” Anand said at a press conference during the G7 Energy and Environment Ministers' Summit in Toronto.
According to the minister, the Canadian government filed a lawsuit to seize the plane earlier this year: “Untangling the ownership structure of the plane was complex,” she noted.
The minister also said that the government is considering several options for transferring the aircraft to Ukraine, which, in addition to legal proceedings, may include the legislative process.
“I will say that Russia completely obliterated some of Ukraine’s Antonov aircraft that were in Ukraine at the beginning of the war. And so this is in a sense replenishing the Antonov fleet,” Anand added.
The aircraft is an An-124 registered in Russia and owned by the Volga-Dnepr Group, which is under Canadian sanctions. The aircraft has been at Toronto Pearson Airport since February 2022.
