Zakharova confirmed the unannounced arrival of Russia's special aircraft in the United States

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed the arrival of the IL-96−300 special aircraft with the tail number RA-96023 from Russia to the United States, saying that this is due to the rotation of diplomats.

"Another rotation of diplomats," she told TASS.

EADaily adds that in The network reported that the IL-96−300 special board with the tail number RA-96023 of the special flight detachment "Russia" spent two days in the United States, while neither the Russian nor the American side officially informed any delegation about the trip to the United States. According to the FlightRadar service, on December 25, a special flight took off from Moscow to St. Petersburg, December 26 — from St. Petersburg in New York and then, after a short break, went to Washington. December 28 IL-96−300 from Washington flew back to New York and from there headed to Moscow.

Allegedly, this aircraft is used by the top Russian leadership, for example, Dmitry Medvedev used to fly it. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used this special board, for example, to fly to the UN General Assembly session in 2023. It was also previously reported that the IL-96−300 was used by the head of the SVR, Sergei Naryshkin.