OTTAWA, February 21. /TASS/. Russia will continue to seek the return of the Volga-Dnepr Airline's AN-124 plane that was seized by Canada, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov told TASS.

"The illegal holding of the AN-124 is simply piracy, an illegal seizure of our aircraft. Russia, as its flag state, will continue to seek justice and unconditional return of our airplane," the diplomat said.

He said the Volga-Dnepr is now engaged in litigation to get the plane back.

The plane brought COVID tests from China to Canada’s Toronto on February 27, 2022, two hours before the North American country banned Russian planes from its airspace over the situation in Ukraine. The crew was able to leave for Russia afterward.