{"id":18458,"date":"2023-11-20T07:05:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T07:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=18458"},"modified":"2023-11-20T10:10:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T10:10:01","slug":"hacked-russian-pilot-reveals-schemes-of-weapons-supply-from-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/hacked-russian-pilot-reveals-schemes-of-weapons-supply-from-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacked: Russian pilot reveals schemes of weapons supply from Iran, South Africa and Mali to Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian hacktivists of the Cyber Resistance group handed over to InformNapalm volunteer intelligence community exclusive data from the mailbox of Maxim Okss, a former air force officer and now a “civilian” pilot in command of the Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft of the sanctioned Aviacon Zitotrans airline. The contents of his mailbox reveal information about Russian airlines operating airlifts of weapons, ammunition and sanctioned goods from Iran, South Africa, and Mali to Russia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMANDER OF MILITARY UNIT 41495<\/h2>\n

Okss Maxim Igorevich [Rus.: \u041e\u043ac\u0441 \u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438\u043c \u0418\u0433\u043e\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447]<\/strong>, born July 18, 1977, domestic passport # 45 21 705316, issued on August 10, 2022, TIN: 370201681553. Registered at: Moscow city, 11 Sinyavinskaya st., building 9, apt. 93.<\/p>\n

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He was born in Dresden, studied in Russia, but in all the documents requiring the ethnicity he indicates it as “Ukrainian”. The retrieved data makes it clear that this ethnic Ukrainian contributes to the continued Russian aggression against his historical homeland.<\/p>\n

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His military career does not merit a detailed description. He served in military transport aviation, rose through the ranks to become the commander of the 566th Separate Military Transport Aviation Regiment, military unit 41495, stationed in the town of Seshcha, Bryansk Oblast.<\/p>\n

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Comrade Colonel did not distinguish himself with anything noteworthy there. Interestingly, his mail dump contained building layouts for his new country house with a stand-alone sauna, alongside with the results of an internal audit of his military unit, which recorded facts of inventory shortages and theft.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Colonel Okss was transferred to the position of a chief of service \u2013 senior inspector-pilot of the flight safety service of the of the Military Transport Aviation Command Headquarters (Staff), military unit 25969 (Moscow, Matrosskaya Tishina-10). But he did not last long there and was dismissed from office with the following wording: \u201cNot fit for the position held. It is not advisable to appoint for flight operations.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Colonel Okss left the military service and, having experience in piloting IL-76 transport aircraft, went into civil aviation.<\/p>\n

“HUMANITARIAN AID” FROM IRAN<\/h2>\n

Okss’s first civilian employment was at ALROSA Airlines, but in May 2021 he switched to the Aviation Rescue Company of the Ministry of Emercom of Russia.<\/p>\n

This state-owned aviation enterprise does not exclusively do rescue operations, but offers a wider range of services. VIP and corporate transportation of passengers is very relevant for remote rotational camps in Russia, as is sanitary evacuation from the taiga or permafrost areas. However, this company also carries out freight transportation.<\/p>\n

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Among a bunch of technical documentation, hacktivists found data about a flight operated by this airline on February 6, 2023 on the route Moscow (Zhukovsky Airport) \u2013 Urmia (Iran).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Urmia is the capital of the Iranian of West Azerbaijan province. Tellingly, just a week before this flight, there were media reports about an attack by the Israeli army on Iranian weapons factories<\/a>. Thus, explosions were reported in the Shahid Salimi industrial zone in the neighboring province of East Azerbaijan. According to the map, this industrial zone is only an hour and a half drive from Urmia where the Russian freighter landed.<\/p>\n

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What kind of cargo did the Russians take there? Documents from ex-colonel’s mail indicate that it was definitely not “humanitarian” in nature, as indicated on the flight summary.<\/p>\n

Also, thanks to the pilot duty rosters, we know that the IL-76 aircraft of this airline operated flights to Africa and Syria.<\/p>\n

With Syria, everything is obvious \u2013 there were flights to Latakia and the Russian Khmeimim airbase to transport cargo for Russian troops there. All flights to Syrian bases are highlighted in gray in the roster, indicating a government order. For example, in February 2023 alone there were 13 such flights to Syria.<\/p>\n

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There are also commercial flights to Bamako, the capital of Mali, on the flight rosters. It is well known that there is a significant Russian presence in Mali, notably of the former Wagner Group. Apparently, it was the Wagner PMC that was the “commercial” customer. It’s no surprise that the number of flights to Bamako went through the roof in June 2023. There is a separate document in the mail dump with flight routings and aircraft loading.<\/p>\n

Thus, from June 21 to 22, a number of flights were made along the route Ramenskoye – Krasnodar – Latakia – Bamako – Latakia – Bamako – Latakia – Bamako – Latakia – Krasnodar – Ramenskoye. Such an increase in activity is quite an interesting coincidence, given that Prigozhin’s putsch took place on June 23 and 24, 2023.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Somewhere in August or September, Okss transferred to the private sanctioned cargo airline Aviacon Zitotrans, which carried out cargo transportation for sanctioned Russian military industry companies. As indicated in the register of sanctioned legal entities and individuals on the website of the NAPC of Ukraine, Aviacon Zitotrans delivers military materiel such as missiles, warheads and helicopter parts around the world. For example, Aviacon Zitotrans delivered military cargoes to Africa, Venezuela, and other countries. As an example of their efforts, as of September 2022, Aviacon Zitotrans was attempting to use a Turkish company and Turkish diplomats to facilitate the sale of Russian military equipment abroad on behalf of OJSC Rosoboronexport, a state-owned Russian military industry company sanctioned<\/a> by the United States.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Okss’ flight roster is interrupted in August. However, we detected the flight of another crew on August 03, 2023 to Cape Town.<\/p>\n

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And already in September, South African President Ramaphosa stated that an independent expert group had found no evidence that any Russian ship was transporting weapons from South Africa for Russia in May 2023. This may well be true, because the weapons were delivered not by sea, but by air. With transport airplanes of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cyber Resistance group handed over documents with the cargo specification to the competent authorities; this information is not yet subject to publication. The contents of the Okss’ mailbox once again prove that Russia is not only ramping up its own weapons production, but also sourcing the weapons from all over the world to pursue its criminal war of attrition against Ukraine.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russia is a proven international aggressor with a track record of attacking several countries, unlikely to stop with Ukraine. Therefore, the issue of support for Ukraine by the West with weapons and ammunition, aircraft and tanks, missiles and drones, is a matter of security for the whole democratic world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Read more publications based on the data from Cyber Resistance hacktivists<\/h2>\n