A U.S. military transport aircraft made an unusual landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, with the Kremlin reportedly claiming it had no information about the flight or its purpose.
Video footage showed the U.S. military aircraft approaching the Moscow airport, while publicly available flight-tracking data indicated that the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III had traveled to Russia after first flying from the United States to Latvia.
According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft departed Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Sunday afternoon and flew to Riga, Latvia. It subsequently traveled from Riga to Moscow, arriving at Vnukovo airport.
The mysterious flight comes months after another unusual trip involving an American-registered aircraft. According to Reuters, the last time a U.S.-registered jet flew directly from Europe to Russia was in January, when U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow.
During that visit, Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin for discussions focused on efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. Department of War declined to provide an explanation for the latest military flight.
A Department of War spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, “We have nothing to provide on this subject.”
Fox News Digital also sought comment from the White House and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
Adding to the intrigue surrounding the flight, the Kremlin said it had no information about the arrival of the American military aircraft, according to Reuters.
Following the January talks involving Witkoff and Kushner, Putin aide Yury Ushakov described the American delegation’s discussions with the Russian president and said the U.S. officials had arrived after participating in events in Davos.
“Our counterparts arrived from Davos after taking part in a series of events together with President Donald Trump, including those concerning the Ukraine settlement.”
Ushakov said Witkoff and Kushner provided Putin with firsthand information about their discussions and impressions from meetings involving American, Ukrainian and European officials.
“They offered what can be called their first-hand accounts of these events and shared their impressions, as well as their latest thoughts and assessments regarding the meeting between the President of the United States and [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy in Davos” during the World Economic Forum, he added.
According to Ushakov, the January meeting largely centered on information gathered by the United States through its contacts with Ukraine and European countries and how those developments could shape subsequent talks between Washington and Moscow.
“Overall, I can say that the focus of the meeting between the President of Russia and US representatives was to obtain information resulting from the contacts the United States had with the Ukrainians and Europeans in order to define further steps between our two countries,” Ushakov also said.
It was not immediately clear whether the latest C-17 flight to Moscow was connected to diplomatic activity or carried U.S. officials, cargo or other personnel, and neither Washington nor Moscow had publicly offered an explanation for the unusual flight.
{Matzav.com}
