The mystery of the American plane in Moscow may have come to an end. After the extraordinary report earlier today (Tuesday), which claimed that an American transport plane had made a surprise landing in the Russian capital, Moscow, CBS is reporting that CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived on this plane for a visit to Russia.
A U.S. diplomatic motorcade was reportedly spotted in Moscow after a C-17 transport plane landed at Vnukovo International Airport earlier today.@Archer83Able https://t.co/Jie6XjEVZU pic.twitter.com/DVyKUWy4M9
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 25, 2026
After the initial report, Russian internet users uploaded to social media footage of an American diplomatic convoy traveling through the streets of Moscow – accompanied by police cars. It is important to note that this is a report, and at this point there is no confirmation that the plane was carrying a diplomatic delegation, prisoners, or any specific cargo.
According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the plane in question is a Boeing C-17A Globemaster 3, which landed at Vnukovo shortly after 10:00 Moscow time. The plane took off from Riga, the capital of Latvia, about two hours earlier; according to the data, it departed on Sunday afternoon from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, near Washington, and continued from there to Latvia.