CIA Director John Ratcliffe Aboard Mystery U.S. Military Transport That Landed in Moscow: Report

CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks before President Donald Trump arrives at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe was aboard the mystery military transport plane that landed in Moscow early Tuesday, in his first publicly known trip to Russia as head of the United States’ top spy agency, CBS News reported.

Ratcliffe was in the Russian capital for a day of meetings and had a diplomatic motorcade, according to the outlet.

President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly planned ahead for Ratcliffe’s safety, according to Financial Times reporter Christopher Miller.

As Ukraine has repeatedly shown its ability to unleash drone strikes deeper into Russian territory as the war between the two nations continues, the Trump administration asked Ukrainian officials not to strike Moscow, St. Petersburg or other nearby regions in the early part of this week, Miller reported.

“Scoop @FT: Trump administration officials last week requested that Kyiv not strike Moscow, St Petersburg and nothern [sic] regions of Russia with its long range missiles and drones on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when the US would send a plane carrying a senior-level official to the Russian capital, according to people familiar with the request. Ukraine agreed, they said. Today we see that a US Air Force C-17 plane has landed in Moscow,” Miller posted on X. 

The flight caused a stir when eagle-eyed reporters spotted publicly available tracking data that showed the aircraft landing in Russia.

The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III departed the U.S. Air Force’s Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Sunday afternoon, NBC News had reported.

The aircraft made a stop in Riga, Latvia, before traveling on to Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow.

The transport landed in Moscow just after 3 a.m. Eastern time, according to NBC, which cited data from FlightRadar24.

It’s unclear who Ratcliffe was scheduled to meet or why the meetings took place in Russia.

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