A Russian ‘Air Force plane’ has landed in Venezuela, according to photos and flight tracker data. In March, a similar event sparked a heated war of words between Moscow and Washington.

The plane arrived at Venezuela’s “main airport” on Monday, Reuters reported, referring to the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside of the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The agency did not provide any further details about the aircraft.

However, the photos released indeed show an Il-62 plane with a Russian flag and a tail number RA-86496 parked at the Caracas airport. The flight tracking website Flightradar24 describes this plane as a Russian Air Force Il-62M.

Russian Air Force returns to #Venezuela: RuAF 223rd Flight Unit Ilyushin Il62M arrived to Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport #Maiquetía 08:45Z pic.twitter.com/oSLqwNWYz9 — Yörük Işık (@YorukIsik) 23 июня 2019 г.

If confirmed, it seems that the same plane arrived in Venezuela as part of a group of two aircraft back in March, which sparked a dispute between Moscow and Washington. March reports about the two planes carrying troops and cargo landing in Venezuela led Washington to demand Moscow “get out” of what it sees as its own “backyard.”

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