An unusual landing of a US military transport aircraft in Moscow on Tuesday has triggered questions and speculations over its mission, as neither American nor Russian authorities have offered an explanation for its presence in Moscow.
A US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III landed at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport after flying directly from Riga, Latvia, according to data from flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
The aircraft, carrying the US-registered tail number 07-7181 and identified by the callsign RCH4555, landed at Vnukovo at around 10 am local time after taking off from Riga roughly two hours earlier, according to a report by Reuters.
What makes the flight mysterious is the fact that there is no information regarding its possible passengers or cargo. There has also been no official explanation of the purpose of the visit.
The Kremlin said it had no information about the aircraft. The US military officials, the White House, the US embassy in Moscow and the Russian embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to questions about the mission, say media reports.
Aircraft's flight history
The C-17's movements before its arrival in Russia have also attracted attention. A Reuters report said flight-tracking data showed that the aircraft had arrived in Riga on Sunday after flying from the Camp Springs area near Washington DC, where Joint Base Andrews, a major US military facility, is located. The base is notably used for the travel of the US president.
An Open Source Intel account on X highlighted the unusual movement, saying: "The purpose of the visit is unknown. No official statement has been reported."
The account also noted that the aircraft's flight history included Camp Springs, Maryland, where Joint Base Andrews is located.
C-17 aircraft are used for diplomatic and government transport, adding further interest to the unexplained flight.
Another thing that makes the presence of the flight curious is the fact that direct movements by US-registered aircraft from Europe to Russia have been rare.
The last such direct flight took place in January, when a US-registered aircraft carried special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Russia for peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. However, there is currently no information indicating that Tuesday's C-17 flight was connected to a diplomatic mission or that it was carrying any officials.
