Rubystar Airways (UE RubiStar)

OFAC designated UE RubiStar (a.k.a. Rubystar Airways; Belarus tax ID 600436180; registered office Smolevichi, Minsk region; organisation type 'freight air transport') on 9 August 2024 under the Belarus order E.O. 14038 and the Russia order E.O. 14024. Treasury described Rada and RubiStar as 'two private Belarusian cargo airline companies' and said: 'on multiple occasions in 2024, RubiStar provided mission support to Russia by transporting Russian military personnel to Africa; and relatedly, at the request of a Russian company, RubiStar conducted the shipment of military helicopters to Africa.' Its director, Evgeniy Ivanovich Mikholap, was designated the same day in that capacity. The OFAC entry gives an establishment date of 23 March 1997; the company's own site says it was established in 2000 as a cargo sales agency and received a Belarusian air operator certificate in 2002 (ICAO code RSB). No aircraft are listed under its SDN entry. It does not appear on the EU or UK lists as downloaded; OpenSanctions shows it on the US lists and Taiwan's export-control list only.

Response

No response by the company to the designation was found.

Sanctions

OFAC SDN since 9 Aug 2024 (BELARUS-EO14038; RUSSIA-EO14024, secondary sanctions risk). Not found on EU FSF or UK list (3 Oct 2026).

BIRN and OCCRP's 2016 investigation into arms flights from central and eastern Europe to the Middle East found 'Eleven different cargo carriers were used with Ruby Star Airways from Belarus, accounting for almost half of the flights', and that a Bulgarian customs official confirmed one Ruby Star flight 'was carrying arms' from Gorna Oryahovitsa via Brno to Aqaba, Jordan. That reporting concerns 2015-2016 and has no connection to Sudan.

Response

Not recorded in the passage read.

@AfriMEOSINT reports Rubystar Il-76TD EW-567TH flying Istanbul to Port Sudan on 15 Jul 2026 (and scheduled again on 16 Jul), and from Minsk 'towards East Africa' on 22, 23 and 26 Jul, 29 Aug, 16, 21 and 23 Sep 2026, giving the destination each time as 'Port Sudan or Massawa' or 'possibly bound for Port Sudan'. The same account says Massawa received four flights from Minsk by EW-567TH between 21 and 31 July 2026 and published a satellite image of 4 August showing two Il-76s there, and reports EW-383TH flying from Tekirdağ Çorlu to Cairo on 17 Sep 2026 ('may be linked to drone deliveries'). In most posts the destination is the tracker's inference because the aircraft dropped off tracking. Flightradar24's public page for EW-567TH showed a departure from Minsk on 27 Sep 2026 (RSB7680) with destination 'not available' and an arrival at Fujairah on 28 Sep. No independent source confirms a landing at Port Sudan or says what was carried. The same operator's aircraft are reported on other clients' work: another tracker (@MenchOsint, Feb 2026) lists EW-383TH among Il-76s on the UAE airlift attributed to the RSF, and @AfriMEOSINT itself reports EW-383TH flying Çorlu to Abuja for drone deliveries to Nigeria and EW-567TH arriving in Istanbul from Fujairah in Sept 2025.

Response

No statement by the company on these flights was found. No request for comment was made by this desk.

Sanctions

OFAC SDN (see first claim)