Why did a US military plane fly from Latvia to Moscow? Mystery C-17 flight raises questions

Moscow: A US Air Force military transport plane flew from Latvia to Moscow early Tuesday, according to flight-tracking data, but who was onboard and why the aircraft travelled to Russia remain unclear.

The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport after flying from Latvia, data from Flightradar24 showed. The unexpected flight has raised questions about the purpose of the trip, with neither Washington nor Moscow publicly providing an explanation.

The aircraft appeared to have previously travelled to Latvia from Joint Base Andrews, a US military facility near Washington DC, according to the flight-tracking data.

Who was on the US military plane?

The Flightradar24 data did not identify the passengers or officials aboard the C-17, leaving it unclear whether the aircraft was carrying military personnel, civilian officials or others.

US officials have travelled to Russia several times in recent years, but there was no immediate indication of who may have been aboard this particular flight.

The US administration has not publicly commented on the aircraft's journey.

Asked about the flight, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to comment, saying he did not have information about it.

What does the flight data show?

Flightradar24, which tracks aircraft movements using a crowdsourced network of receivers, showed the C-17's journey from Latvia to Moscow.

The aircraft is a large US military transport plane operated by the United States Air Force. However, the available flight data does not reveal the purpose of the Moscow trip or the identity of those onboard.

AFP said it was not immediately able to independently verify the flight-tracking data.

The flight comes amid continued US-Russia contacts in recent years, including visits by US officials to Russia. However, there is currently no public confirmation linking those visits to Tuesday's C-17 flight.

With both the US administration and Kremlin declining to provide details, the purpose of the military aircraft's trip to Moscow remains unclear.

With AFP inputs