A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Tuesday, according to flight tracking data, in an unusual visit whose purpose has not been officially explained.
The aircraft, bearing the call sign RCH4555, arrived from Riga, Latvia, after a multi-day journey that began on Aug. 22 at a base in New Jersey. The Kremlin said it had no information about the landing, and the U.S. administration has issued no official statement on the reason for the visit. Details about the aircraft's cargo and passengers remain unknown.
The flight coincided with a scheduled meeting in Moscow between Vatican envoy Paul Richard Gallagher and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Social media speculation has linked the visit to a possible prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow. Russian authorities had in recent months been expecting a visit from U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.