Tamika Johnson reported that a sanctioned Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154M made a Russian long-range aviation deployment to Ben Gurion Airport on 8 November 2026, touching down at about 7 p.m. The white three-engined jet carried registration RA-85042 and flew in from Chkalovsky near Moscow.
The aircraft landed under a United States sanctions designation first issued in May 2023 and linked to the 223rd Flight Unit. That unit’s full name is the Federal State Governmental Institution 223 Flight Unit State Airlines of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, and the United States Treasury identifies RA-85042 as a Tu-154 with manufacturer’s serial number 12A998.
Chkalovsky to Ben Gurion Airport
The jet left Chkalovsky, crossed the Black Sea, passed through Turkish airspace and entered Israel from the Mediterranean before circling over the country. JFeed independently identified the same type, registration and departure base late on Sunday night, while also saying the aircraft is not used for regular commercial passenger flights.
The aircraft had been sitting in Moscow for the previous week after arriving from Novosibirsk on 2 November. Spotters had already seen RA-85042 abroad before: they filmed it in Geneva in 2016 and photographed it at Amsterdam Schiphol in April 2018.
United States sanctions and Israel
The United States sanctions list restricts US persons from dealing with the aircraft and its operator, but those sanctions do not by themselves oblige Israel or any other country to refuse landing permission. No source suggested that any Israeli rule was broken, and the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.
The Jerusalem Post said it asked the Russian Embassy and several United States government bodies for a response. JFeed said there was no verified information linking the flight to any specific political or security development at that stage, and Afterburner found none either.
Why the landing stands out
The Tu-154 is a Soviet classic, a three-engined, medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and long used as a government transport after airlines retired it. The 223rd Flight Unit flies Russian government officials and military personnel, which makes the landing at Ben Gurion Airport unusual without making its purpose public.
The aircraft’s onward route and departure time had not been reported when the article was published. Until that route appears, the most concrete fact is the one on the ground in Israel: a sanctioned Russian military aircraft landed at Ben Gurion Airport, and the flight path ended there for the moment.
