CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, aboard a US military transport plane for meetings, according to US media reports. Neither Washington nor the Kremlin has confirmed the visit.
Avisen Danmark, citing the news agency Ritzau, reports that the head of the US intelligence service flew to the Russian capital on a Boeing C-17. The purpose of the trip was to attend meetings, according to anonymous sources cited by CBS News.
The information has not been officially confirmed. It is not known who Ratcliffe was scheduled to meet, or what subjects were on the agenda. Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential spokesperson, declined to comment on the aircraft.
Before the CBS News report, a Boeing C-17 drew attention on social media. The aircraft had taken off from Latvia and flown to Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, according to Flightradar data cited by the news agency AFP. It appeared to have originally departed from Joint Base Andrews, the US military base near Washington, D.C.
Flight details and other reporting
AeroTime reports that the aircraft used the callsign RCH4555 and left Riga on the morning of August 25, 2026, before landing at Vnukovo. According to the same flight records, the plane had arrived in Riga on August 23, 2026.
It was not clear from the tracking data who was on board or why the plane was heading to Russia. It has therefore not been confirmed that this was Ratcliffe’s aircraft. CNN, citing a US official, describes an unannounced visit made overnight to meet Russian officials.
CBS News writes that this appears to be Ratcliffe’s first publicly known trip to Russia as CIA director, although he is in regular contact with his Russian counterparts. Both a Boeing C-17 and a motorcade were spotted at an airport in Moscow, according to CBS.
Reuters reports that US media, citing unnamed sources, say Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow for meetings. Reuters notes it would be the first known visit to the Russian capital by a US intelligence chief since William Burns met President Vladimir Putin in November 2021.
Ratcliffe was reportedly also involved when Russia released the American-Russian woman Ksenia Karelina in April 2025 after a negotiation process. The same was the case when journalist Evan Gershkovich and former marine Paul Whelan were freed by Russia in 2024.
Euronews describes the trip as secret and unannounced, stressing that neither Washington nor Moscow has confirmed Ratcliffe’s presence. The United States has played an active role in trying to get Russia and Ukraine to reach a peace agreement, but the parties still appear to be far apart.
