The unexpected arrival of the Il-96 in the United States caused a stir, but the Kremlin called the flight an organizational issue for diplomats.
A Russian government plane, an Ilyushin Il-96 with the tail number “Rossiya,” made an unscheduled flight to New York and Washington, causing controversy because the announced visit was not taking place. There had been no formal requests from either the Kremlin or the United States for a meeting.
As the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reported, this is nothing more than a “regular repatriation flight.”
According to her, there were employees of the Russian diplomatic mission on board who were being sent to the United States and who were planned to be taken back after the mission was completed.
“The Il-96 Rossiya flight to New York is a regular repatriation flight; it took new employees to the US and will pick up those returning,” Zakharova said.
Let us recall that the plane first took off from Moscow, after which it made a short stop in St. Petersburg. Then it went to the United States, where it landed at two key airports.
The plane initially arrived in New York, where it landed at 15:27 local time (22:27 Kyiv time). After a short stay, the plane continued on to Washington, where it landed at 20:56 local time (3:56 June 26 Kyiv time).
