Russian An-124, stranded in Canada since February 2022, will remain grounded after a Canadian Federal Court rejected a sanctions-relief appeal.
A Canadian Federal Court judge, Justice Ann Marie McDonald, rejected an appeal by Volga Dnepr Airlines (VDA), the owner of the Antonov AN-124, to lift sanctions placed on the company in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This means that the An-124, seized by Ottawa following the invasion, will remain grounded in Canada.
The judge said that the airline had not shown the government’s decision was unreasonable or lacked procedural fairness.
“Overall, recognizing the wide deference held by the Minister (of Foreign Affairs) on these decisions, and being satisfied that the Minister exercised that discretion reasonably, there is no basis for this Court to intervene,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, welcomed the outcome on X, saying, “A Russian Antonov cargo plane immobilized at Toronto’s Pearson Airport since February 2022 will remain there following the decision of the Federal Court. We have successfully argued that Canada will not serve as a refuge for assets linked to sanctioned entities that support Russia’s large-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine. Those who contribute to the Kremlin’s aggression must expect to face the consequences.”
Imagine flying into Toronto with a load of COVID test kits and simply never leaving.
That is essentially what happened to this enormous Antonov An-124, which has now been sitting at Toronto Pearson for more than four years as an extraordinary geopolitical battle plays out around… pic.twitter.com/HLtqIiXePX
— Flightdrama (@flightdrama) August 21, 2026
The ruling reportedly rests on the fact that the operator contributed significantly to Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions imposed by Canada and its allies to obtain sanctioned goods.
The Antonov AN-124 arrived in Canada in February 2022, carrying COVID-19 test kits from China via Anchorage, Alaska. The aircraft was slated to return to Russia after dropping off the cargo, but got stranded after Canada closed its airspace to Russian flights in response to the unprecedented Russian invasion of Ukraine. These restrictions made it impossible for aircraft with Russian registrations and their affiliates to fly over the airspace of several nations, including Canada, the US, and Europe.
Because they could not depart before the deadline, the aircraft began incurring daily parking charges of $1,650, driving up costs.
In the summer of 2023, Canada unveiled new sanctions, paving the way for the seizure of the Antonov An-124 from the Volga-Dnepr Group, along with measures targeting two of its subsidiaries, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridge Cargo Airlines.
Following this, the aircraft was formally seized by Ottawa in June 2023, citing the owners’ “complicity in President (Vladimir) Putin’s war of choice.”
At the time, then-Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said that seizure was “designed to put additional pressure on Russia to stop its illegal war against Ukraine by straining its economic system and limiting resources that fuel the war.”
The Russian airline operator emphasized that it was a “peaceful carrier” that did not carry military supplies and denied any role in the invasion. However, Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded that the business “benefited” from contracts and subsidies from the Russian government, which it believed were intended to mitigate or circumvent the sanctions imposed by Canada and its partners.
At one point, Canada even contemplated sending the An-124 to Ukraine, as then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced in April 2023, as EurAsian Times reported at the time. “A new package of sanctions against Russia from Canada. In particular, against Volga-Dnepr. We are preparing to confiscate the An-124 aircraft and other assets of the aggressor in Canada and transfer them to Ukraine,” Shmyhal said in April 2023.
The aircraft was never sent to Ukraine, but some pro-Russian observers have accused Canada of “stealing the An-124.”
While the aircraft is still officially registered in Russia as RA-82078, Canadian Order SOR/2025-29, registered in February 2025, places it under the possession and control of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Canada initiated formal forfeiture proceedings in an Ontario court in March 2025 to acquire full legal title to the aircraft, which is believed to be necessary before the aircraft can be transferred to Ukraine. However, the Canadian Foreign Ministry has noted that the country needs to “disentangle” the ownership chain to properly serve notice on all relevant parties before a court can grant complete forfeiture. The latest ruling strengthens Canada’s position but does not, by itself, complete the forfeiture.
As seen in satellite images, the aircraft has been parked outdoors in a remote stand on the northeastern/eastern side of Pearson for more than 4 years. It has been moved on the ground several times for maintenance and inspections. In September 2025, it was towed for a 10-day technical inspection before it returned to its usual parking spot.
Notably, no flight-test or airworthiness flight has been recorded over the past 4 years. The aircraft remains fully grounded under the airspace ban. The plane is being kept in a basic state of preservation sufficient to avoid total write-off, but it is far from flight-ready and will require substantial work and cost if it is ever to fly again.
An-124 Is A Massive Cargo Plane
The Antonov An-124, also known as Condor by NATO and Ruslan by the Russians and Ukrainians, is the heaviest series-produced military transport aircraft in the world and is currently used by several private businesses.
On February 2, 1972, the Soviet government sent a resolution to the Antonov Design Bureau in Kyiv, Ukraine, ordering the development of the strategic military transport aircraft. This paved the way for the An-124.
The first prototype of the An-124 made its first flight on 24 December 1982 from Kyiv and was publicly unveiled to the West at the 1985 Paris Air Show.
Piloted by Tersky, the An-124 s/n 01-01 achieved 21 world records on July 26, 1985, including the highest payload of 2,000 meters (6,566 feet) when it lifted 171,219 kilograms. The aircraft entered service in 1986.
Production of the An-124 ran from 1982 to 2004 at two plants—one in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the other at Aviastar-SP in Ulyanovsk, Russia—producing about 55 to 57 aircraft. However, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, many An-124s transitioned to commercial operations after obtaining civil certification in 1992.
Notably, the design of this aircraft also served as the foundation for the even larger one-off An-225 Mriya, which was destroyed in the initial days of the Russian invasion.
The An-124 features a high-wing configuration with an enormous cargo hold accessible through both a visor-type upward-hinging nose door and a rear ramp, allowing simultaneous loading from both ends. Its multi-wheel landing gear, with 24 wheels, enables operations on rough or unprepared runways, including those with snow and ice. The aircraft uses fly-by-wire controls and includes overhead cranes for internal cargo handling.
The aircraft is 69.1 meters long, has a wingspan of 73.3 meters, and stands about 21 meters tall. It has a maximum payload of about 120,000 kilograms, although the modernized An-124-100M-150 can carry up to 150,000 kilograms. There are several versions of the aircraft: the An-124-100 is the commercial model, often certified for 120 tons, while the original An-124 was the military version with a 150-ton cargo capacity.
The Russian Aerospace Forces remain the largest operator as of 2026, with about 13 aircraft in service and additional reserves, some of which have been upgraded. After being severely impacted by sanctions, Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Airlines, once the leading commercial carrier with up to 12 aircraft, now operates only two or three.
Meanwhile, Antonov Airlines, a commercial airline based in Ukraine, normally operates four to five of its seven aircraft. Notably, during the Russian invasion, Kyiv moved its An-124 base to Leipzig/Halle in Germany.
Earlier this month, a suspicious object—later identified as a drone— was found near the Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan at Leipzig Airport. The drone allegedly targeted the most vulnerable part of the An-124’s wing, and is believed to have been carried out by Moscow, although an investigation is currently under way to find the perpetrator of the crime.
Globally, the maintenance of An-124s has become increasingly complex and expensive due to the aircraft’s age, as most are over 30 years old, and the limited availability of spare parts. Despite these difficulties, the An-124 continues to fill an irreplaceable role in transporting ultra-heavy and outsized cargo, such as industrial modules, locomotives, generators, satellites, military equipment, and humanitarian aid, that exceeds the dimensional or weight limits of most other freighters.
- Contact the author at sakshi.tiwari13 (at) outlook.com
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