When is the next schedule trip of a US official to Russia?
FBI Director Kash Patel listens as President Donald Trump speaks at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City (AP)
FBI director Kash Patel is scheduled to visit Russia – first stopping in Moscow and then St Petersburg – in a matter of weeks, according to reports.
Two insiders cited by Politico said he plans to visit one of America’s top adversaries on October 14 and 15.
Neither the White House nor the FBI have commented on the report.
It is also unclear whether Patel will meet with Vladimir Putin or any other Russian officials, and whether his rumoured trip is at all linked to the war in Ukraine.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 16:30
Watch: US Boeing Globemaster ‘with CIA director on board’ land in MoscowUS military plane lands in Moscow with no explanation from authorities
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 16:15
Why is the CIA director in Russia?
US president Donald Trump (R) cedes the podium to CIA director John Ratcliffe (L) as they speak about the conflict in Iran in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC (AFP/Getty)
Mystery is mounting as to why the CIA director has made a visit to Moscow – in secret – earlier today.
It appears to be John Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Russia since taking the post in 2025, and it comes at a time when the peace negotiations remain stalled.
Neither the US nor Russian governments has commented on the identity of the official in Russia or the purpose of the visit.
“No, there are no plans for US envoys {travelling to Moscow, ” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a press briefing.
So far, CBS News and Axios are reporting that Ratcliffe flew to the Russian capital for meetings, citing unnamed sources.
He personally negotiated the release of a US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina in April 2025, and the agency has been involved in exchanges of detainees between the two governments.
The CIA was also involved in the 2024 prisoner exchange that led to the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who had spent a year and four months in a tsarist-era prison.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 16:04
In pictures: US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III spotted in Moscow
A US military transport plane approaches Moscow, Russia, August 25, 2026, in this screen grab taken from a social media video (Social media)
The aircraft as spotted above a store in Moscow (Social media)
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 15:45
CIA director John Ratcliffe ‘on board’ US military plane in Moscow, reports say
CIA director John Ratcliffe pictured in the White House (AFP/Getty)
CIA director John Ratcliffe was on board the US military transport aircraft that landed in Moscow earlier today, it has been reported.
Unnamed sources cited by CBS News and Axios said that he travelled to Russia on the US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III for meetings.
So far it remains unclear who the US official was scheduled to meet.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 15:41
Two Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant workers injured in drone strike
Two workers at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike, management said.
Drones hit near the plant’s hydraulic structures and wounded two maintenance and construction workers.
Management did not provide details on any damage caused by the attack.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 15:30
Kremlin blasts Finnish support for long-range strikes on Russia ‘escalatory’
The Kremlin has accused Finland’s president of being a “representative of the party of war” after he called Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory a “sensible military strategy.”
President Alexander Stubb told a news conference in Kyiv on Monday that Ukraine’s partners must help it expand its ability to strike deeply inside Russia, arguing that the attacks increase the cost of war for the regime.
Asked about the remarks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused the Finnish leader, along with Andy Burnham, of wanting the war in Ukraine to continue.
He said: “This evokes no other reaction apart from surprise given that just a few weeks earlier the Finnish president had spoken of the need to normalise relations with Russia sooner or later.
“But now we see that escalatory rhetoric has prevailed after all.
“Mr Stubb is also a prominent representative of the ‘party of war’ alongside the British prime minister.
“They are deceiving their voters by claiming that it is possible to defeat Russia – it’s a huge deception – and they appear to be refusing to heed the realities on the ground.”
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 15:00
One killed and 123 injured in major fire at Russian petrochemical plant
One person has been killed and 123 others wounded in a major fire at a petrochemical facility in Russia’s Far East.
Flames broke out at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC), near the town of Svobodny, close to the border with China, earlier today.
AGCC said it began in an auxiliary processing area of the pyrolysis unit, while pro-war Telegram channels speculated Ukrainian sabotage.
In a statement on its website, the company confirmed that a Chinese national employed by a contractor has died.
As many as 19 people have been taken to hospital, with their injuries ranging from moderate to severe, AGCC said.
The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 14:30
Mystery US military aircraft lands in Moscow
US plane flight path from Riga, Latvia, to Moscow (Flight Radar)
A US military transport aircraft has touched down in Moscow, data from Flightradar24 shows.
The US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III transport plane took off from Riga, Latvia, this morning before flying across the border into Russian airspace.
It remains unclear whether it carried any cargo or passengers. The Kremlin said it had no information on the plane.
The aircraft had arrived in Riga on August 23 from the US Camp Springs airbase near Washington DC, data from Flightradar24 showed.
The last direct flight of a US registered jet to Russia from Europe took place in January this year, carrying special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner for peace talks with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 14:00
US-made Patriot interceptors delivered to Ukraine, Zelensky says
Zelensky reacts as he hold a press statement after a visit to a military training area in north-eastern Germany, on June 11, 2024, where Ukrainian soldiers are trained on the ‘Patriot’ air defence missile system (AFP/Getty)
Ukraine has recently received a small batch of US-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles, Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed.
The country also got confirmation of future supplies of the French Crotale surface-to-air missile system, the president was quoted as saying by broadcaster Suspilne.
He did not say how many had arrived, or who had supplied them.
Gergana.Krasteva25 August 2026 13:30