Earlier today, a Russian Rossiya – Special Detachment Flight Ilyushin IL-96 was spotted in Berlin, Germany.

Allegedly, the aircraft flew to the German capital to transport around 150 persons back to Russia. This is at least the second visit the aircraft has made in the last 12 months.

The Flight from the Russian IL-96 into Berlin…

As per data from RadarBox.com, RA-96014 departed Moscow Vnukovo at 0714 local time this morning and flew the long way around to Berlin Brandenburg Airport, landing at 0910 local time.

The return flight, RSD898, departed Berlin again at 1212 local time, and at the time of writing, the aircraft is still flying to Moscow Vnukovo, expected to arrive at 1555 local time.

At this stage, it is unclear who the 150 passengers are, and could potentially be diplomats who may have been expelled by the German government.

Photos from Brandenburg…

AviationSource photographer Emil Bree acquired photos of RA-96014, the Russian IL-96 in question, landing and taking off from Berlin this morning:

It will be interesting to see what the reason for this flight was, especially with all Russian aircraft currently banned from overflying European airspace.

For this flight to Berlin to take place, it would have required special approval, so potentially something political and to do with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

This is a developing story. More to follow in due course.