This morning, we’re tracking the flight of a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-96 (reg. RA-96018) departing from Moscow and flying over the eastern Mediterranean Sea en route to Casablanca.
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine over a year ago, Turkish airspace remains open to Russian military aircraft, with the exception of flights to Syria due to Turkey’s direct interests there. Turkey is currently the only NATO member still implementing this policy.
It is an ambiguous policy, as even the Bosphorus, which is closed to foreign military ships, sees Russian cargo ships carrying goods such as grain and other materials stolen from Ukraine.