British-Romanian mission to conduct observation flight over Russia

A joint British-Romanian mission will conduct an observation flight over the territory of the Russian Federation on a Romanian An-30 observation plane in the period between May 30 and June 3 under the international Open Skies Treaty, Sergei Ryzhkov, the head of the national Nuclear Threat Reduction Center, told Interfax.

"During the flight, which will follow an approved route, the Russian experts aboard the observation plane will control strict observance of the approved flight parameters and the use of the observation equipment envisaged by the Treaty," he said.

The observation plane An-30 is a plane not equipped with any weapons. The plane and the observation equipment installed on it (aerial photo cameras) have been certified by international experts, including Russian specialists, which rules out the use of technical devices not envisaged by the Open Skies Treaty, Ryzhkov said.

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