BERLIN/VIENNA — A fleet of Russian military-affiliated cargo aircraft has made over a hundred flights to Algeria over the past year, likely delivering modern fighter jets and equipment to bolster an increasingly important Russian ally at Europe’s southern flank, and using the country as a hub to project Russia’s power deeper into Africa.

A Defense News investigation found at least 167 cargo flights linking Russia to Algeria between March 2025 and April 2026, making the North African country one of the key hubs in Moscow’s global freight network.

Many of the flights connected airfields associated with United Aircraft Corporation, Russia’s state-owned maker of military jets, to Algerian air bases. Several of the cargo flights also roughly coincided with the sighting of new Russian-made warplanes roaring over the Algerian countryside.

The uptick in air traffic comes amid ongoing deliveries of several types of Russian-made warplanes to Algeria. The country is currently receiving Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets and Su-35 fighters from Russia. It also operates a fleet of about 60 Su-30 multirole fighters and around 40 MiG-29 air-superiority fighters.

At least some of the Russia-Algeria flights are likely linked to the flow of new-generation weaponry. “I think this is a pretty reasonable explanation for these flights,” said Margaux Garcia, a senior analyst with Washington-based C4ADS who tracks Russia’s covert activities.

Algeria has become a key customer for Russian arms at a time when Moscow has seen a slump in its billion-dollar military export business following the invasion of Ukraine.

Algiers bought 73% of its weapons from Russia between 2018 and 2022, and though the share of Russian-origin weapons has declined in recent years, Russia remains Algeria’s top supplier of arms, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The country has recently placed several large orders for new aircraft, including the ones manufactured at the very sites the cargo aircraft tracked for this investigation frequently visited.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of harsh Western sanctions as a result, government-affiliated airlines have grown in importance for the Kremlin. In its “Shadow Airlines” investigation, Defense News has tracked about a dozen operators and manually retraced thousands of flight routes, providing a first-of-its-kind comprehensive picture of this unreported underworld. This article is the first in a multi-part series that uncovers this peculiar network of front companies, airlines and Soviet-era freight planes that move Russian weapons and influence around the world.

Defense News tracked Russian cargo flights to the Oum El Bouaghi Air Base, Ain Oussera Air Base, Annaba Air Base, Laghouat Air Base and Béchar in Algeria, among other destinations.

Some flights may also have touched down in other parts of Algeria, but many of the aircraft appeared to be involved in tracking-evasion techniques such as turning off their ADS-B transponders or misdeclaring airports in their itineraries. Particularly flights heading south out of Algiers, the capital and a key hub for the shadow airlines, frequently dropped off ADS-B tracking radars even though other nearby aircraft remained within coverage.

According to an air cargo industry insider, who wished to remain unnamed to speak freely, this is a known evasion technique deliberately employed by pilots. It also matches other clandestine flights that Defense News has tracked.

Aircraft were frequently observed visiting key Russian fighter jet production sites shortly before heading to Algeria. For instance, Algeria-bound aircraft visited Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the sole production site for both the Su-57 and Su-35, at least a dozen times during the period investigated. There were also at least eight flights through Irkutsk Northwest airport, which is central to the Su-30 production line. At least 28 flights relating to Algeria went through Yeltsovka Airport near Novosibirsk, which is the only facility producing and maintaining the Su-34 frontline bomber. Algeria is known to operate or have ordered all of these aircraft and is the first foreign buyer for several of them.

Within Russia, the airport of Mineralnye Vody – a civilian installation with a runway nearly 4,000 meters long – plays a key role in the logistics supply chain on these Algeria flights. About two-thirds of all flights landed here from other Russian destinations before heading onward to Algeria. The airport, located in the North Caucasus, Russia’s far southwestern edge, is a convenient staging location as it minimizes the flight distance between the motherland and destinations in Africa and the Middle East.

The workhorse

The Ilyushin Il-76, the workhorse of these shadow airline operators, typically has a range of around 5,000 kilometers when reasonably loaded. That limits Russia’s power projection abilities without access to intermediary airports for refueling, which are hard to come by given Russia’s current status as a pariah in much of the world.

Data collected by Defense News suggests that Algeria may not only be a destination but also a transit spot for Russian military equipment or support flowing elsewhere into Africa. Between July and September, two Il-76 planes operated by Gelix Airlines, RA-76373 and RA-76360, made eight return flights between Russia and Conakry, Guinea, by way of Algiers.

Guinea, a frequent onward destination from Algeria for the shadow airline fleet, has long been a key Russian-aligned country in West Africa, and ties have deepened further since a military junta took over in a coup in 2021. Russia is deeply involved in the country’s mining sector, especially for bauxite, and the country also serves as a key gateway for Russian weapons deliveries into the Sahel region.

In January 2025, Le Monde documented that two sanctioned Russian cargo ships unloaded over 2,000 tons of military cargo, including light tanks and armored vehicles, at Conakry, from where the convoy then drove north to Mali.

Additionally, Algeria appears to serve as a gateway for Russia into the turbulent country of Niger, where Russian paramilitary forces have been active and the Kremlin has a deep web of interests, not least the country’s vast uranium deposits. An investigation by Italian newspaper Il Foglio from December 2025 showed an airlift operation was underway to move many tons of uranium purchased by state-owned Rosatom from Niger to Russia.

In recent days, a super-heavy Antonov An-124 “Ruslan” aircraft operated by Volga-Dnepr Airlines started flying regular shuttles between Algiers and sub-Saharan Africa, with tracking data suggesting the destination was likely Niamey, the capital of Niger, although the transponder signal is spotty. Satellite imagery reviewed by Defense News shows a large aircraft with dimensions that match those of the An-124 parked at Niamey airport on at least two of the dates in question.

The An-124 is capable of carrying well over 100,000 kg in payload and is the world’s largest operational heavy-lift aircraft.

The aircraft in question, RA-82079, has flown the circuit between Algeria and Niger at least eight times since April 21, and remains in the area at the time of writing. It ly came to Algeria from the Irkutsk Northwest Airport, the assembly site for the Su-30 aircraft, by way of Mineralnye Vody and first landing in Africa at the Oum El Bouaghi air base, where one of Algeria’s Su-30 squadrons is based. From there, it leaped over to Algiers, where it sat for nine days before beginning the shuttle flights to Niger.

Three other An-124 aircraft operated by Volga-Dnepr have visited Algeria in the past year, including on unusual routes flying to military bases deep in the Algerian Sahara desert by way of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Algeria has also served as a stopover for intercontinental flight itineraries.

In March 2025, one of the same a