U.S. General: Russian Aircraft Flown To Libya Linked To Moscow's Pursuit Of Foothold In Region

The U.S. military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) has rejected Russia's claim that Moscow did not deploy fighter jets to Libya, saying on May 29 that the aircraft reflected Russia's goal to establish a foothold in the oil-rich country.

Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield, deputy director for intelligence at ARFICOM, said the U.S. military tracked the 14 MiG-29 fighter jets and SU-24 fighter bombers that were flown in by the Russian military, landing at Libya's Jufra air base.

The base is the main forward airfield for Khalifa Haftar and his eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which has been waging an offensive to capture Tripoli.

Hadfield said Russia's activities in Libya gave it access to that country's oil and a military base in striking distance of Europe.

"Backing the LNA and backing Field Marshal Haftar -- it really isn't about winning the war, it's about developing strongholds," Hadfield said in an interview on May 29 with a small group of reporters.

A big U.S. concern would be if Russia placed missiles in such a location, he added.

"If Russia secures a permanent position in Libya and, worse, deploys long-range missile systems, it will be a game changer for Europe, NATO, and many Western nations," Hadfield said.

Russia has denied links to the aircraft, calling the claim "stupidity." Viktor Bondarev, the former Russian Air Force chief who heads the Defense Committee in the upper house of parliament, said the planes were not Russian, but could be Soviet-era aircraft owned by other African countries.

Hadfield disputed that, saying there were none of those aircraft in that part of Africa. And, he said, "not only did we watch them fly from Russia by way of Iran and Syria to Libya, we were able to photograph them at multiple points."

AFRICOM first released information about the arrival of the Russian aircraft in Libya on May 26. It provided more details on May 27, saying Moscow deployed the jets and bombers to provide support for Russian mercenaries helping Haftar battle forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is recognized by the United Nations.

AFRICOM said that MiG-29s and Su-24s bearing Russian Federation Air Force markings departed Russia "over multiple days in May."

After the aircraft landed at the Russian military base of Hmeimim in western Syria, the MiG-29s "are repainted and emerge with no national markings."

Hadfield said the fighter aircraft will likely provide close air support and offensive strikes for the Vagner Group, a private military contractor believed to be close to the Kremlin that has been helping Hafter's forces.

The aircraft have not yet been used, but he said they will have to be flown either by pilots from Russia or contractors employed by Vagner.

Also on May 29 the U.S. State Department announced that Malta on May 26 seized $1.1 billion worth of counterfeit Libyan currency that it said was printed by a Russian state-owned company.

The money was printed by Joint Stock Company Goznak and ordered by "an illegitimate parallel entity," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in the statement.

The statement said the influx of Russian-printed Libyan currency in recent years "has exacerbated Libya's economic challenges," adding that the United States remained committed to working with the United Nations and international partners to deter illicit activities in Libya.

"This incident once again highlights the need for Russia to cease its malign and destabilizing actions in Libya," Ortagus said.

Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. The country is now split between a government in the east allied with Hafter and the UN-backed GNA in Tripoli.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the situation in Libya is continuing to deteriorate and that a cease-fire announced in January is in tatters.

The cease-fire "has definitively collapsed, and hostilities have resumed in full," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on May 29, according to Interfax.

The balance of power differs significantly from what it was when the cease-fire came into effect due to "massive foreign assistance," she said.

Russia is in contact with all sides in the conflict and will insist it is resolved through diplomatic means, she said.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and Interfax