On February 20, 2026, a passenger Boeing 787, which took off from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, crossed Russian airspace, flying over the Murmansk region before continuing its route to Kazakhstan.
According to information from Flightradar24, the plane first flew over Greenland, Norway, and Finland. It then entered Russian airspace, flying over the Arkhangelsk and Kirov regions, and crossed the border into Kazakhstan near Ufa at 10:00 Moscow time (13:00 Astana time).
It should be noted that since 2022, direct air communication between Russia and the USA has been suspended. This occurred after the American side imposed restrictions on flights by Russian airlines, prompting a retaliatory measure from Russia, which closed its skies to American aircraft.
At this time, it is unknown who was on board the Boeing 787 and what the purpose of the flight was. There have been no official comments from the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Rosaviation, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Military expert Yuri Knutov suggested that the unidentified US Air Force plane flying over Russia might be related to the delivery of "unusual" cargo to Kazakhstan, as reported by Ulysmedia.kz. He expressed doubt that it was a reconnaissance flight, suggesting that it was an urgent cargo transport. Knutov noted that Russia could have provided an air corridor and route for this, and any unauthorized incursion would have provoked an immediate response from Russian fighters.
— I don't think it was a reconnaissance plane. Most likely, it was a cargo delivery from the USA directly to Kazakhstan. Currently, military cooperation between the USA and Kazakhstan is actively developing, and there may have been a need for urgent transportation. We accommodated this, as the shortest route is through Russia. It's hard to predict, but certainly, the flight was extreme, that is obvious, — he stated in an interview with gazeta.ru. However, details about what exactly might have been delivered to Kazakhstan have not yet been disclosed.
The Boeing 787, which took off from the American Andrews Air Force Base, crossed the airspace of Uzbekistan and then Kyrgyzstan in the morning hours of February 20, according to Flightradar24.
