Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin | Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images ‘You snakes’ — Russia’s deputy PM to Romanian authorities Dmitry Rogozin was on a flight to Moldova that wasn’t allowed into Romanian airspace.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called Romanian authorities "snakes" after they refused to allow a plane on which he was a passenger to enter Romanian airspace as it flew to Moldova.

"Romanian authorities endangered the lives of the passengers on board the S7 airline flight — women and children," Rogozin tweeted Friday. "Look forward to a reply, you snakes." He used the Russian word "Gady," which has no direct translation but can be variously interpreted as reptile, snake, vermin or skunk.

The Romanian foreign ministry confirmed that the incident took place, according to local media.

Rogozin is among the Russians hit by Western sanctions imposed after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine. He was on a commercial flight to the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, at the time of the incident.

An online flight tracker showed the plane circled over northeast Hungary, then flew along the Romanian border, before heading through Polish airspace to Minsk, Belarus.

Rogozin, who oversees the Russian defense industry, is known for making belligerent and controversial statements about the West. He suggested earlier this month that there were "Nazi remnants" within NATO.

In a similar incident three years ago, Rogozin threatened to return to Romanian airspace in a Russian bomber, a TU-160, after his plane was forced to divert. At the time he was returning from Moldova to Russia after visiting the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria. He accused Romanian authorities of blocking their airspace in response to a request from the United States.

Western nations have often taken an inconsistent approach to enforcing sanctions, with some Russian officials permitted to travel on government-related business.

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