By Riffat Kausar
Snn News Finland
Damascus, Syria An Ilyushin Il-76T cargo plane believed to have carried ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad out of the country in December 2024 has flown back to Damascus, ending a 17-month stay at a Russian air base in Syria.
The Aircraft’s Return
The plane, registered YK-ATA and operated by state carrier Syrian Arab Airlines, landed at Damascus International Airport on May 14, 2026, according to flight-tracking data cited by Arabic broadcaster Al-Araby TV.
The Il-76T had been sitting at Russia’s Hmeimim Air Base on Syria’s coast since it departed Damascus on the night of December 7–8, 2024, hours before Assad’s government collapsed.
What the Aircraft Represents
Flight-tracking records show the Il-76T took off from Damascus that night and headed toward Hmeimim, just before the airport was shut down and Assad’s 24-year rule ended.
Russian media outlets, including the Voyenny Osvedomitel Telegram channel, have described the aircraft as the one that carried Assad and members of his inner circle out of Syria. Reuters had separately reported at the time that Assad boarded a plane and left Damascus for an unknown destination before Russian officials confirmed he had been granted asylum in Moscow.
Unconfirmed Details
Neither Syrian nor Russian authorities have officially verified that YK-ATA is the specific aircraft Assad personally flew on. It remains unclear whether the plane carried Assad directly or transported other regime officials in a separate evacuation flight around the same time.
What is confirmed is the aircraft’s movement: it left Hmeimim and returned to Damascus on May 14, 2026, and is now reported to be under the control of Syria’s post-Assad governing authorities — the coalition, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), that took power after Assad’s fall.
Context: Syria Since Assad’s Fall
Assad’s departure in December 2024 ended more than five decades of rule by the Assad family, following a rapid rebel offensive that took Damascus. He and his family were granted asylum in Russia, where they remain.
Since then, Syria’s new authorities have been working to reconstitute state institutions, including the country’s air force and civil aviation assets. The return of YK-ATA follows other recent moves to recover Assad-era assets, including a French-Syrian agreement in July 2026 to begin returning tens of millions of dollars confiscated from Assad family associates.
Assad’s government collapsed
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