A Russian cargo airline whose aircraft has been grounded in Toronto for more than four years is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn its Canadian sanctions listing, pointing to its past work for the very government now blocking it.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Volga-Dnepr Airlines says its Antonov An-124 arrived with COVID-19 rapid tests for the Department of Public Works on February 27, 2022. Canada closed its airspace to Russian operators that same day following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The plane has remained at Toronto Pearson ever since.

The airline’s lawyers argue Volga-Dnepr previously transported military freight for NATO countries, including Canada’s Department of National Defence, before 2018. They also maintain the company is privately controlled and does not finance the war directly or indirectly.

But the federal government’s case concerns its subsequent role in helping Russia withstand Western sanctions.

Justice Ann Marie McDonald dismissed the airline’s challenge on August 11. Federal lawyers presented evidence of Russian government contracts and subsidies supporting activities intended to ease or circumvent sanctions.

McDonald upheld the foreign affairs minister’s conclusion that those activities indirectly supported Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. The airline’s insistence that it was not transporting military cargo did not resolve the government’s concerns about restoring access to sanctioned goods and supply chains.

Blacklock’s reports that the Department of Justice had not yet filed its response to the appeal.

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