Riots in Sudan: a Ukrainian SkyUp plane caught fire at the airport (video)

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) at Khartoum Airport damaged civilian aircraft. In particular, it became known that after the shelling, the plane belonging to the Ukrainian airline SkyUp also caught fire.

A video of the consequences of the incident at the airport was published on social networks. In the footage, you can see how the plane with the SkyUp marking is on fire.

According to CNN, the Armed Forces of Sudan said that paramilitary groups entered the Khartoum airport and set fire to civilian planes.

"Earlier, elements of the rebel forces secretly infiltrated the Khartoum airport, struck and set fire to civilian aircraft, including the Royal Saudi Airline," the Sudanese Armed Forces said in a Facebook post.

Sudan's military says it managed to destroy more than 80 RSF militia vehicles. This happened with the support of foreign countries. The rest of the militants reportedly fled to the Jabal Ghazal area to be protected by civilians in Marawi City. The military also said it was targeting the RSF to protect civilians.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian airline explained that the SkyUp Airlines planes are in Sudan under an air leasing contract with Sun Air. From the beginning of 2023, they operated flights to Cairo (Egypt), Riyadh, and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

SkyUp said that it is currently impossible to determine the condition of the aircraft and possible damage. The Company added that the 36 SkyUp employees who are in Sudan are in a relatively safe place and are in contact with them.

"Our main task now is to organize safe conditions for the employees and help them leave the country as soon as possible. We are doing this together with the Embassy of Ukraine in Egypt, the Consulate of Ukraine in Sudan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and other state structures. We will definitely inform you about the solution to the situation, as only this will be possible," SkyUp said in a statement.

Read also: A protest against the military coup took place in Sudan

The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, told Hromadskyi that the members of the Ukrainian aviation crew, who were at the Khartoum airport, were taken out. They are now in a safe place and are being looked after by the Ukrainian consul in Sudan.

A number of mass media published the statement of the Ukrainian flight attendant about the alleged capture of Ukrainian hostages in Khartoum. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that this information is not confirmed.

What is known about the situation in Sudan:

The unrest in the country began in October 2021, when the country's government was overthrown in a coup d'état. Tensions between the army and the paramilitary groups came as the Sudanese government said it wanted to integrate the RSF (rapid support military force) into the country's army. The authorities said they wanted to control this process. The merger was a key condition of the unsigned Sudan Transition Agreement, an internationally backed agreement with political parties to restore democratic processes in the country.

The army has demanded the integration of the RSF into its forces within two years, while the RSF has said the move will take 10 years and must be accompanied by an internal restructuring of the army.

Tensions between the military and the RSF have escalated in recent months, delaying the signing of the agreement. Sudan's civil parties, which signed an initial power-sharing deal with the country's army and the RSF, have called on them to end hostilities.

Last year, CNN exposed General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the RSF paramilitary group, as a "primary beneficiary of Russian support."

CNN said it had evidence of Russia's involvement in the conflict in Sudan - it used Sudan's gold resources through Dagal and General Abdel Fattah al-Burkhan, the country's military ruler, to fund its war in Ukraine.

According to the publication, the scheme was aimed at protecting Russia from increasingly tough Western sanctions and supporting Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine.

The evidence also suggests that Russia colluded with the besieged Sudanese military leadership, allowing billions of dollars to "bypass the Sudanese state and deprive the impoverished country of hundreds of millions in government revenue."

In return, Russia provided strong political and military support to Sudan's military leadership, which had become increasingly unpopular as it brutally suppressed the country's pro-democracy movement.

It will be recalled that in 2021, the leader of the coup d'état, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said that the military seized power in the country in order to prevent a "civil war".

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