reconron
banner
thereccelizard.bsky.social
reconron
@thereccelizard.bsky.social
Russian Military Analyst. 45 years Russian airplane chaser. Cold War mentality. Можно по Русский. 8000+ hours RC-135.
On 08 Dec RUS Navy Tu-154B-2 CARELESS RF-85856 flew from St P-Burg to K-Grad Chkalovsk. It later took off and was last tracked eastbound. On 15 Dec it took off from K-Grad Chernyakhovsk and was last tracked flying south of Moscow.
December 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
On 14 Dec 224th SFS An-124 CONDOR RA-82037 RFF8476 flew from the Moscow area as RFF8476 and landed at Khmejmim Airbase SYR. It took off as RFF405 and was last tracked over LBY. On 07 & 08 Dec this aircraft as RFF8476 was tracked westbound over BFA and may have gone to Bamako MLI.
December 15, 2025 at 2:58 PM
On 08 Dec Gelix Airlines Il-76TD CANDID RA-76360 flew from Mineral’nye Vody to Novosibirsk Gorodskoj (JSC Novosibirsk NAPO factory that produces Su-34FULLBACK). On 09 Dec it flew to Novosibirsk Tolmachevo departing on 10 Dec and flying to Mineral’nye Vody (probably).
December 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM
On 12 Dec MChS Il-76TD CANDID RA-76363 SUM9622 took off from Moscow (likely ZIA) and flew to Khabarovsk (regional MChS center). It took off three hours later and flew to Pyongyang PRK returning to Khabarovsk after two hours on the ground. On 13 Dec it took off and is likely en route back to Moscow.
December 13, 2025 at 3:34 PM
On 10 Dec 223rd SFS Il-62M CLASSIC RA-86572 RFF8491 flew from Moscow (CKL) to Khmejmim Airbase SYR. Three hours later it took off and likely flew to al Khadim LBY as RFF407. It departed on 12 Dec and flew back to Khmejmim as RFF408, later flying back to Moscow (CKL) as RFF8492.
December 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM
On 12 Dec SFS Il-62MK RA-86539 took off from Moscow (ZIA) and flew to Khmejmim Airbase SYR. It took off after approximately two hours and was last tracked over LBY with al Khadim or Benghazi being possible destinations. This aircraft may later have flown further into Africa.
December 13, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Not seen since Nov, on 13 Dec SFS An-124 CONDOR RA-82030 RFF9923 was tracked eastbound and landed at Novosibirsk. Tracking was iffy (intentionally?) and I could not tell if it landed at Tolmachevo or Gorodskoj.
December 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
On 10 Dec VKS Il-76MD-90A CANDID RF-78664 flew from Moscow (CKL) to Khmejmim Airbase SYR, did an anti-SAM descent over water, landed, departed after three hours and likely flew to Bamako MLI. It departed on 12 Dec and returned to Khmejmim Airbase again landing with an anti-SAM maneuver.
December 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
On 10 Dec Ruby Star Airlines Il-76TD CANDID EW-383TH RSB7615 flew from Abu Dhabi UAE to an unknown location in Africa and returned to Fujairah UAE. Tracking ceased at 0620Z and resumed at 1007Z so the aircraft could not have gone too far.
December 11, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Matros Shevchenko is not in port at Lomé TGO, but in the Gulf of Guinea. The cargo of yellowcake uranium is possibly still in transit and it lost its berth. This could work out well for those watching this ship. When it moves back into port, the convoy has arrived and is ready to be loaded.
December 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
On 11 Dec 223rd SFS Il-76MD CANDID RA-78840 RFF96737 took off from Moscow (CKL) and flew to St P-Burg (LED), took off after approximately two hours and flew to K-Grad Chkalovsk. This aircraft has recently been in SYR and on 09 Dec it flew from Perm to Moscow.
December 11, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I was looking on Google Earth at the Kazan Aircraft Production Association and noticed an aircraft I had not seen for awhile. It is (likely) the Tu-214LMK (flying laboratory) RA-64057.
December 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
After a flight to K-Grad on 08 Dec on 09 Dec VKS An-148 RA-61735 RFF71489 took off from Moscow (CKL flew north and returned later. A possible destination was Plesetsk Cosmodrome (yellow dot) and it could have carried observers for a launch.
December 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
There was an article called ‘The Stumbling Block’ on vpk.name reprinted from belvpo.com stating that while Washington talks about peace in UKR, NATO is being aggressive to Belarus and the K-Grad region. Brussels is using alleged airspace violations and the appearance of UAVs as a pretext for this.
December 10, 2025 at 10:17 AM
The An-22 has the same engines as BEAR bombers and they make a lot of noise! Here is a short clip of an UKR An-22 taking off. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA3X...
An-22 aircraft is take off
YouTube video by Antonov Company
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I listed the five that I was carrying as possibly still airworthy and if I had to call which one crashed, I'd say RF-09309 or RF-09328.
There are reportedly claims that it was the last operational An-22, which had been pulled back into service after decommissioning last year.

That still raises some questions though.

bsky.app/profile/paxl...
If so, it could be RF-09309 (pictured here). It was decommissioned in 2024 and set to become a museum exhibit.

Some sources however indicate that three remain active (RA-09329, RA-09341 and RA-09342), with another two units in storage (RA-08830 and RA-09344).

All are based in Migalovo, near Tver.
December 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
After flying from Chandigarh IND to K-Grad via Astrakhan on 01 Dec Aviakon Tsitotrans Il-76TD CANDID RA-78765 flew back to Astrakhan on 04 Dec and on to 05 Dec it flew back to Chandigarh. It left on 08 Dec, flew to Volgograd and on 09 Dec it returned to K-Grad.
December 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Russian An-22 transport plane crashes in Ivanovo region with 7 on board. brusselsmorning.com/russian-an-2...
Russian An-22 transport plane crashes in Ivanovo region with 7 on board
Mscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) - A Russian An-22 military transport plane crashed in the Ivanovo region northeast of Moscow, reported by the Vesti state tel
brusselsmorning.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by reconron
December 9, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by reconron
In a context where 🇷🇺Russia and 🇹🇬Togo have signed a military cooperation agreement allowing mutual use of their ports, the ship’s presence raises suspicions. She could potentially be used to transport uranium yellowcake to 🇷🇺Russia.
@thereccelizard.bsky.social
December 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
RA-61735 outbound; RF-85856 inbound. I wonder if they waved?
December 8, 2025 at 2:39 PM
On 04 Dec RUS Navy Tu-154B-2 CARELESS RF-85856 flew from Novosibirsk to a location in the Southern Military District. On 08 Dec it flew from the south to St P-Burg (LED). It took off less than three hours later and is en route to K-Grad.
December 8, 2025 at 2:12 PM
On 08 Dec Chinese AF Xian Y-20A 20042 is again over RUS and possibly en route to Ashuluk. There must be something interesting going on there.
December 8, 2025 at 12:14 PM
On 08 Dec VKS An-148 RA-61735 RFF71489 took off from Moscow (CKL) and is en route to K-Grad.
December 8, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Matros Shevchenko is still in port in Lomé TGO but has moved to a different berth.
December 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM