In eleven hours, a plane from Russia’s special squadron flew to the United States. The Ilyushin Il-96 has a specific mission in Washington.
The Russian Special Aviation Squadron is not an ordinary airline. As part of Aeroflot subsidiary Rossiya, it has only one purpose. It flies the President of the Russian Federation, the Prime Minister, the chairmen of the Federation Council and the Duma, as well as key members of the administration, courts and public delegations.
On Tuesday of this week (June 27), the special airline again received such an order. In the morning, shortly after 9 a.m. local time, one of their Ilyushin Il-96-300 took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
It first flew north, past the border with Finland out into the Norwegian Sea and then south past Iceland. The destination of flight RSD898 was unusual, at least for the current time. He led to the USA.
US expects consideration for accommodation
Just after 2 p.m. local time, the Russian state-owned Ilyushin Il-96, registration number RA-96018, landed at Washington Dulles Airport. She had needed a little more than eleven hours for the route from Moscow.
In Washington, the Il-96 has a very specific task: as a US State Department spokesman confirmed to The Independent newspaper, it will bring Russian diplomats back to Moscow.
The US has allowed Russia to fly, they say. In exchange, Russia is expected to keep open the transport of diplomatic personnel and cargo to the US Embassy in Moscow.
