Serbia receives Russian IL-76P water bomber after EU airspace flight

Belgrade has received a visit from an IL-76P water bomber operated by Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. The aircraft crossed the airspace of an EU and NATO member state.

Serbia calls on Russia to tackle forest fires

Serbia is seeking Russian assistance as it battles forest fires during the summer of 2026. On the evening of Wednesday 19 August, Luka Causic of the Ministry of the Interior announced that a Russian IL-76P had landed in Niš, in the south of the country, owing to a shortage of aircraft available within the European Union.

From Thursday morning, the Soviet-era military transport aircraft, converted into a water bomber, was sent to tackle a forest fire in the protected Deliblatska Pescara nature reserve. The blaze has been burning for several weeks, with Serbian firefighters unable to bring it under control. According to the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s emergency situations department, the IL-76P is not the only aircraft set to assist Belgrade.

The Russian aircraft crossed EU and NATO airspace to reach Serbia

Russian aircraft are barred from flying through European airspace under sanctions imposed following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, although humanitarian assistance is exempt, Reuters noted. The British news agency sought comment from the EU, which did not respond. Serbia is not an EU member, but it can receive European emergency support through the Civil Protection Mechanism.

At Belgrade’s request, the Russian aircraft flew through the airspace of Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member, on its way to Serbia. Reuters based its report on official documents from the BTA news agency, which cited a statement from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport and Communications. The water bomber entered Bulgaria after crossing the Black Sea off the Romanian coast.

“Given that no water-bombing aircraft with this capacity is available within the EU… the arrival of the Russian aircraft will significantly strengthen our firefighting capabilities,” said Luka Causic, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s emergency situations department, on Wednesday evening.

Serbia’s difficult position between Russia and the European Union

Earlier in the month, Serbia hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Belgrade. Even so, Serbia has not joined the sanctions imposed on Russia. Like Viktor Orban’s former Hungarian government, the Serbian government is in a delicate position, caught between Russia, with which it has historical ties, and the European Union, which it hopes to join.