A Russian Government Ilyushin Il-96-300 was one of the most widely tracked aircraft on FlightRadar24 today as it flew from Moscow to Washington on a route that avoided EU and Canadian airspace.
Our most tracked flight at the moment is a Russian government IL-96 en route to Washington from Moscow. https://t.co/qGXyM2odOX pic.twitter.com/54Q8c8WOvo
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 27, 2023
The aircraft, with the tail number/registration RA-96018 took nearly 12 hours to complete the journey and is expected to be collecting a number of high-level diplomats and Federal Security Service FSB operatives to take back to Russia amid the ongoing turbulence in the country.
Some online speculated the jet was carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin seeking a secret meeting with U.S. President Biden regarding his extraction and immunity should the regime fall in a short-term period. However, there was no evidence of such a move and would be incredibly unlikely in present circumstances.
Vladimir Putin's was understood to have flown out of Moscow on the usual government presidential jet to St Petersburg on an unscheduled flight at the start of what appeared to be a coup attempt or mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary group.
Earlier on Tuesday an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet was monitored heading towards the Belarussian capital of Minsk. The aircraft is believed to belong to Prigozhin as various codes matched those of an aircraft listed in sanctions documents relating to the mercenary.
It's unclear exactly when the Il-96-300 will leave Washington, however, its current position at IAD is said to have been cleared only for 12 hours, so we can therefore expect a relatively fast turnaround - at least by diplomatic standards.