Bushehr: citizens report several Russian transport planes landing

According to citizen reports, several Russian transport planes landed in Bushehr early on Friday, 23 October 2026. At the same time, flight-tracking accounts on social media wrote that at least one heavy Ilyushin Il-76 that had flown from Novosibirsk in Russia landed at Bushehr air base. As of publication, no official body, either in Russia or in the Islamic Republic, had given any explanation about these flights, their cargo or the number of people on board.

Some citizens suspect the flights were made to evacuate Russian staff of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, recalling that similar movements were seen before the strikes of 28 February 2026. This speculation has not been confirmed, and some flight-tracking reports see these movements as a sign of expanding military and strategic cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

Background: Russian staff leaving the Bushehr plant

The Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, was built with Russian help, and the Russian state company Rosatom is in charge of building its second and third units. On the day the war began, 28 February 2026, Rosatom announced it had evacuated about 94 people from Iran, including families and non-essential staff. Rosatom's director, Alexei Likhachev, announced in early March the departure of a second group of about 150 specialists via Armenia, and on 4 April 2026, after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that one of the plant's guards had been killed by shrapnel from a projectile, another 198 people left.

This report comes as Donald Trump has spoken of a possible continuation of US military operations against the Islamic Republic and, according to reports, plans for new strikes after the US midterm elections have been prepared. Vladimir Putin also recently offered, in a meeting with Steve Witkoff, to mediate between Tehran and Washington, and Abbas Araghchi had earlier called cooperation with Russia unprecedented.

No official body has yet explained the cargo and purpose of the Russian flights to Bushehr.