Russia spent $166K to fly late envoy’s remains from North Korea, records suggest



Investigations Russia spent $166K to fly late envoy’s remains from North Korea, records suggest Procurement notice shows state firm arranged ‘evacuation’ flight days after Alexander Matsegora’s death Anton Sokolin February 27, 2026 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Late Russian Amb. to North Korea Alexander Matsegora and EMERCOM's Il- Il-76TD (RA-76363) \| Images: Russian Embassy in DPRK, EMERCOM Russia spent over $160,000 on an emergency flight to North Korea days after Ambassador Alexander Matsegora’s death, official records show, suggesting the Kremlin dispatched the aircraft to repatriate the envoy’s remains. NK News was the first to report on the Dec. 13 flight by an Ilyushin Il-76TD (tail number RA-76363) belonging to Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM), but the newly publicized documents provide the clearest indication that the trip’s purpose was related to the envoy’s death a week earlier. According to a procurement notice, EMERCOM’s Aviation Rescue Company hired Capital AviaNeft, which specializes in “ground handling, passenger and © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Investigations

Russia spent $166K to fly late envoy’s remains from North Korea, records suggest

Procurement notice shows state firm arranged ‘evacuation’ flight days after Alexander Matsegora’s death

Anton Sokolin February 27, 2026

Russia spent $166K to fly late envoy’s remains from North Korea, records suggest

Late Russian Amb. to North Korea Alexander Matsegora and EMERCOM's Il- Il-76TD (RA-76363) | Images: Russian Embassy in DPRK, EMERCOM

Russia spent over $160,000 on an emergency flight to North Korea days after Ambassador Alexander Matsegora’s death, official records show, suggesting the Kremlin dispatched the aircraft to repatriate the envoy’s remains.

NK News was the first to report on the Dec. 13 flight by an Ilyushin Il-76TD (tail number RA-76363) belonging to Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM), but the newly publicized documents provide the clearest indication that the trip’s purpose was related to the envoy’s death a week earlier.

According to a procurement notice, EMERCOM’s Aviation Rescue Company hired Capital AviaNeft, which specializes in “ground handling, passenger and

Russia spent $166K to fly late envoy’s remains from North Korea, records suggest

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