Russian military plane in Israel reportedly carried intelligence chief

A Russian military plane that landed in Israel on Sunday carried senior Russian officials, including the head of military intelligence, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported, citing an unnamed foreign source, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.

KAN identified the aircraft as a Tupolev Tu-154 and said it took off from Chkalovsky Air Base near Moscow before landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv around 9 p.m. local time.

The broadcaster named the intelligence chief as Igor Kostyukov, head of Russia's military intelligence agency, and said the passengers came at the request of the United States.

The officials held talks with senior Israeli security officials, though the broadcaster provided no further details on those discussions, KAN's source said.

KAN said the aircraft departed for Abu Dhabi on Monday, the day before the United States was scheduled to host a peace summit there attended by senior Russian and Ukrainian officials.

The Israeli military spokesperson, the prime minister's office and the Russian Embassy in Israel all declined to comment, the broadcaster added.

There was no immediate comment from Abu Dhabi.

KAN said past military dialogue between Israel and Russia had centered on Russian forces in Syria, and the two militaries had set up a mechanism to avoid friction near Israel's borders.

The broadcaster added that Russia had sharply reduced its military presence in Syria in recent years and had recently begun pulling troops and equipment out of Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia.

KAN noted that Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, had visited Moscow five days earlier and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but it did not link that visit to the aircraft's landing in Israel.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, starting a war that paused under a ceasefire in April before hostilities between Washington and Tehran resumed in July as negotiations stalled.