A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III flies during the International Naval Review 250 in New York City on July 4, 2026. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
A U.S. military transport plane mysteriously landed in Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Aug. 25 after departing from Riga, Latvia.
A U.S. Boeing C-17A Globemaster III with the U.S. registered tail number 07-7181 left Riga at 8:48 a.m. (Moscow time) and landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport around 10:04 a.m. (Moscow time), according to Flightradar24, a live air traffic tracking website.
The arrival of the U.S. transport aircraft in Moscow comes just one day after Ukraine celebrated the 35th anniversary of its independence after breaking away from the Soviet Union.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III had previously landed at the Riga airport on Aug. 23 after departing from Joint Base Andrews in Camp Springs, Maryland, according to Flightrader24 data.
Before this, the last direct flight of a U.S. registered aircraft from Europe to Russia was when special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January to discuss the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin said it had no information on the airplane’s arrival on Tuesday. The Kremlin also indicated this past week that there was no information about another meeting in Moscow with Witkoff and Kushner.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Pentagon, the White House, the Air Force, and the U.S. embassy in Moscow for comment but did not receive a response before publication time.
Boeing’s C-17A Globemaster III is an Air Force transport aircraft that can carry up to 170,900 pounds. The plane is 174 feet long and has a wingspan of almost 170 feet. The aircraft is capable of transporting armored vehicles, trucks, trailers, and 69-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks.
In a speech on Aug. 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine was ready to end the war with Russia, which has lasted over four years. However, he said Ukraine would not agree to Russia’s demands to cede some territory.
“Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender,” he said.
In an Aug. 25 statement on social media, Zelenskyy shared a message he received from President Donald Trump in honor of the country’s independence day.
“August 24 is a day to celebrate our enduring friendship built on 35 years of diplomatic relations, a bond that has only deepened since Ukraine gained its independence,” Trump told Zelenskyy. “Let us seize this moment to end the conflict and build a durable, lasting peace that unleashes the tremendous potential of Ukraine for generations to come.”
Peace negotiations led by the United States to end the war between Russia and Ukraine stalled earlier this year after Ukraine refused to agree to Russia’s demands to surrender additional territory.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow has also indicated that it wants permanent ownership of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
Victoria Friedman and Reuters contributed to this report.
