Three Tu-154s flew to Belgorod at once amid reports of the arrival in Donbass and the injury of the head of the Russian General Staff

Two Tu-154s of the Ministry of Defense (tail numbers RF-85042 and RA-85426) and one Tu-154 of the National Guard (RF-85136) arrived at the Belgorod airport, according to Ruslan Leviev, founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team. Earlier, the Ukrainian media reported first about the arrival of the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in the Donbass, and then about his injury.

Details: Aircraft RF-85042 and RF-85136 arrived on Saturday, empty RA-85426 on Sunday, Leviev claims, citing an eyewitness at the airport. According to the Flightradar24 service, RF-85136 took off from Sheremetyevo on Saturday at 16:40 and ceased to be displayed in the service at 17:22 when approaching the Kursk region. There are no data on flights RF-85042 and RA-85426 in the service.

• At about 13:00 on Sunday, two Mi-8s and three Ka-52s arrived at the airfield. “On the platform I met some very important military rank, which was guarded in a circle by submachine gunners. Behind him are black minibuses Mercedes, Kruzaki (Land Cruiser, - “Agency”),” writes Leviev. According to him, the person who met him was a colonel general.
• Three Ka-52s guarded the airfield in the air, and both Mi-8s landed, from which, as Leviev writes, “the crowd poured out”, climbed into one of the Tu-154s (tail number RA-85426) along two ladders and quickly flew away.

Context. On Thursday, Ukrainian media reported, citing their sources, that Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, had arrived in Izyum (200 km from Belgorod) to personally command the offensive. On Sunday, the Ukrainian media learned that Gerasimov had been wounded.

• The Ministry of Defense did not comment on either the information about the arrival of Gerasimov in Izyum, or reports of his injury.
• Leviev's source said that it was Gerasimov who flew in. But he went on board himself, "alive, healthy"