News summary
- A video is circulating on the Internet in which a Belarusian plane explodes before landing in Mali.
- The death toll is uncertain, but it is feared that up to 140 people were on board.
- There are suspicions that the plane was linked to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
- Sources close to the mercenary fighters denied the alleged information.
Plane explodes shortly after landing on runway in Mali Reproduction / Social Media
A video is circulating on the Internet in which a plane operated by Ruby Star Airways, based in Minsk, Belarus, exploded on a runway in Mali shortly after landing. (see below). The death toll is uncertain, but it is feared that up to 140 people were on board. The information comes from the tabloid The Chron.
There are suspicions that the aircraft, named Ilyushin Il76, was linked to the Wagner group. A source at the airport, an employee there, told Jeune Afrique magazine that the plane belonged to the Malian army but had Wagner soldiers on board and was overloaded. The same person stated that “the causes of the accident are not yet known.”
It should be recalled that the paramilitary group operates in Mali and the plane explosion occurred just weeks after the death of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who commanded the group, in a plane crash on the outskirts of Moscow. Despite suspicions, sources close to the group denied the news that the mercenaries had any connection with the plane.
“The flight did not carry any people from the Wagner group,” said a message on the Gray Zone Telegram channel associated with the group. “There were no fighter planes or pilots on board.”
The Ilyushin76 is a fourturbofan strategic transport fixedwing multirole aircraft commonly used to transport heavy machinery to remote areas. The aircraft has already been spotted in several African regions, often coinciding with the presence of paramilitary forces such as the Wagner.