The Italian Nova news agency has cited an unnamed Libyan source said that a Russian “Ilyushin II-76” plane that was stationed at Al-Jufra airbase had been destroyed by "maybe an American drone strike or a suicide drone bombing." It added that "another strike targeted Wagner Group operatives near Zallah town, about 7 kilometers east of Al-Jufra."
Nova news agency explained that the destroyed plane was coming from the Russian base in Latakia, Syria, and carrying jamming devices - electronic devices designed to confuse enemy receivers - for the new Russian military corps that is being trained in Africa, adding that this shipment was heading partly to Libya and partly to Sudan via the Umm Al-Jaras base in Chad.
Such attacks come at a time when Khalifa Haftar's forces - especially the Tariq bin Ziyad Brigade - have intensified their activities in Sirte, according to Nova.
Eekad account on X platform, an organization specializing in open-source intelligence analyses, found the wreckage of a destroyed Russian plane at Al-Jufra airbase and said the image taken by satellites on December 12 showed a black burn mark with the remains of an aircraft body around it.
"After searching satellite images for the previous days, we found that on Saturday, December 2, at the site of the same fire, an aircraft the size of a plane was stationed as big as the fire size." Eakad said.
An aircraft appeared in the image at the site of the same fire, and by analyzing the dimensions and size of the aircraft, it turned out to be a Russian-made aircraft of the “Ilyushin Il-76” model, which is the model that the Russian military group Wagner usually uses in its flights for military and logistical supplies in Libya and the African continent in general.
