Mystery aircraft circles Lviv for two days: Air Force explains

This was reported by Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda, as cited by Espreso.

The aviation tracking service Flightradar24 recorded the aircraft flying over the Lviv region on April 21-22. Both the Air Force and the Ministry of Development explained the situation.

What Ukraine's Air Force says

According to the Air Force, this is an An-26 military transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"This aircraft is performing certain tasks (the officer did not specify what tasks – ed.). In general, every day, dozens of aircraft and helicopters of various types perform tasks in Ukraine's airspace, including combat, special missions, as well as training flights," said Yuriy Ihnat.

What the Ministry of Development says

The flights of the aircraft, recorded on April 21-22, are part of the ground and flight checks of aeronautical equipment in accordance with Ukrainian Aviation Rules. These are conducted periodically to maintain the certification of the equipment, according to a statement from the Ministry of Development in response to a request from Forbes Ukraine.

The Ministry of Communities and Territorial Development of Ukraine denies any preparation for the airport's reopening. 

"This is not related to the resumption of flights," the press service stated in their response. For this, the appropriate security conditions must be created in Ukraine, the ministry explained.

"Such flights may continue in various parts of Ukraine's airspace," the ministry added.

What happened earlier

The aviation tracking service Flightradar24 recorded the aircraft's flight over the Lviv region on the morning of April 21.

According to Flightradar24, the aircraft appeared over Lviv region at around 9:00 AM. It then circled the area for several hours.

Journalist Andriy Tsaplyenko wrote in his Telegram channel that a Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft was likely observed over Lviv region. Sweden had previously promised to deliver such aircraft to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, journalist Vasyl Pekhno noted that the flight route indicated the work of an An-26KPA or a similar aircraft-laboratory, performing checks and calibration of aeronautical equipment.

On the morning of April 22, over 6,000 people simultaneously tracked the flight of an unidentified aircraft with the call sign "Welcome" and without registration details on the Flightradar24 monitoring service. The aircraft made several circles over Lviv, nearly reaching Rivne and Ivano-Frankivsk, returned to Lviv, and then disappeared from the radar.

• Recently, Poland announced that after the airspace over Ukraine is opened, they want to be the first to restore air connections with Ukrainian cities.