The landing of an Ilyushin Il-96-300 at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport on Saturday, April 22, 2023 caused quite a stir. The machine took off from Moscow and stayed at the German capital's airport for around three hours.
Due to the EU-wide ban that applies to Russian airlines and aircraft registered in Russia, such flights should not exist at all. However, the German federal government issued an exceptional permit. First, a representative of the German Air Force explained that special permission had been granted for diplomatic purposes. They did not want to go into further details.
There is probably a good reason for this, because according to a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, more than 96 diplomats who were expelled from the country by the Russian Federation were said to have been on board the Il-300-20. Russia said it made the decision in response to the "mass expulsion" of Russian diplomats ordered by Germany.
The German authorities do not want to comment on the presentation. They only say that they have been in contact with the Russian authorities regarding personnel issues. It is understood that the Russian Il-96-300 jet picked up the country's expelled diplomats.
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