The first civilian flight over Kyiv in more than two years took place Sunday when an Antonov Airlines An-124 cargo plane flew from somewhere in Ukraine to Leipzig, Germany, in a very public way. Under clear blue skies, the aircraft flew directly over the capital city before dashing to the Polish border and on to Germany. The purpose of the flight has not been disclosed, although the common theme on social media suggests it was a repatriation flight by the airline. The betting is that it took off from Svyatoshino Airport, where it has been stranded since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. According to The War Zone, there were also reports that it left from Dnipro.
There doesn’t appear to have been any attempt to stop the unusual flight. That prompted some sarcasm among those who watch the conflict closely, particularly on the Russian side, through the Telegram social media site. “The sad thing here is not that the An-124 arrived, but that it was able to leave intact and unharmed,” said a blogger named Figtherbomber. “It arrived, of course, at night, later, when our agents are asleep.” The last time a non-humanitarian civil aircraft flew over Kyiv was shortly after the invasion began when Wizz Air flew one of its airliners out of the country.
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