In an unusual sighting, a video emerged this Tuesday showing a U.S. military transport aircraft landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. The intriguing arrival sparked curiosity, as the Kremlin reportedly claimed it had no awareness of the flight’s details.
According to Flightradar24, a trusted aviation tracking website, the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III set off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft’s journey originally pointed it towards Riga, Latvia, and it subsequently continued on to Moscow, Russia, arriving Tuesday morning.
Reuters reveals that direct flights of U.S.-registered jets to Russia from Europe are not commonplace. The last recorded instance occurred in January, when special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, traveled to Moscow. Their agenda included a significant meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In response to this unexpected visit, a Department of War representative told News Media on Tuesday that they had “nothing to provide on this subject.” Meanwhile, News Media has also reached out to the White House and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to gather further information.
A U.S. military transport plane is seen approaching Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2026, as captured in this screen grab from a social media video. (Reuters)
The Kremlin said it had no information about the latest flight, Reuters reported.
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Yury Ushakov, an aide to Putin, said following January’s meeting with Witkoff and Kushner that “our counterparts arrived from Davos after taking part in a series of events together with President Donald Trump, including those concerning the Ukraine settlement.”
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum at the Kremlin in Moscow on Jan. 22, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“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.
A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III plane is seen departing Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“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.