A Russian Tu-214R Special Mission Aircraft has been operating quite close to Finland’s airspace for the last days.

A Tupolev Tu-214SR, used as a communication relay aircraft often dispatched by the Russian Air Force to accompany Putin’s presidential aircraft or other Moscow’s VIPs on their trips, has departed from St. Petersburg and it is currently circling near the border with Finland.

The orbit RSD49 (the radio callsign of the aircraft) is flying, centered on the island of Valaam, the largest in Lake Ladoga, where Putin is visiting his “spiritual mentor”, brings the Tu-214 as close as 20 km from the Finnish border.

The Tu-214R is a Russian version of the U.S. E-4B, an airborne command and control role, that was deployed over Sochi during the Winter Games opening, and also flew over Crimea, always visible on Flightradar24.com by means of ADS-B transponder.

In other words, while NOTAMs can expose the position of the Admiral Kutsnezov aircraft carrier, Mode-S transponder on Russia’s “doomsday” plane will most probably tell you where Putin is.

Screenshot via Flightradar24. H/T to @Missilito for the link to the Guberniya Daily.

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