Tensions Rise in Libya: NATO Surveillance Intensifies as Haftar Meets Russian Officials in Moscow

While the situation in Libya is deteriorating, with new unrest reported in Tripolitania (and several casualties), and as General Haftar travels to Moscow to meet with Russia’s Deputy Minister of Defense Yunus-Bek Yevkurov — responsible for the expansion of the Africa Corps in Libya — NATO forces are intensifying their surveillance missions.

🇷🇺🇱🇾| The Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, arrived in Moscow on an official visit, where he will meet with Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, responsible for Africa Corps expansion in Lybia. pic.twitter.com/v0gT3URfAD

— Iván López (@FpAnalisis) May 8, 2025

In recent days, we have observed the constant presence of a US Navy MQ-4C drone off the Libyan coast. Today, two surveillance assets are active over the central Mediterranean.

On one hand, there is the US Army’s Bombardier 650 ARTEMIS (registration N488CR – callsign BRIO68); on the other, a Hellenic Air Force Embraer EMB-145H AEW&C (registration 757 – callsign OURANOS41).

The first is orbiting off the coast of Cyrenaica, continuing a type of mission we have already tracked (though this time conducted farther offshore). The second is carrying out a similar mission, but with a different flight profile compared to what we are used to seeing — missions usually confined within the Greek FIR. This deviation suggests that it may not be a routine operation (typically conducted as part of Operation IRINI or NATO missions enforcing the arms embargo on Libya), but rather aimed at a different objective.