UN takes necessary measures to release Russian helicopter

The UN is taking the necessary measures to release the Russian MI-26T helicopter and its crew detained in Sudan as soon as possible, spokesman for UN Secretary General Stefan Dujarric told RIA Novosti on Monday.

We sent documents to the Sudanese authorities through the office of the UN Development Programme in Khartoum, which confirm that the helicopter's cargo and crew belonged to the international mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dujarric said. We hope that the helicopter will fly to the DRC, where it is waited for, any time soon.

The transport helicopter MI-26T of the Russian aircraft company Vertical-T, which fulfilled the UN humanitarian flight from Russia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was detained on July 21 by the military authorities of Sudan in the town of El-Fasher. According to the Sudanese authorities, the cause of the detainment was the improper registration of transit documents. On Friday, the Sudanese authorities allowed the crew to head for Khartoum.

The Russian foreign ministry sent an official protest to Sudan on Monday in connection with the detainment of the Russian pilots.