Putin’s Ilyushin Il-96 presidential plane arrives in Alaska for Trump talks, but what’s inside?
August 15, 2025
The Russian delegation has arrived in Alaska for the Trump-Putin summit to discuss the war in Ukraine. Among the Russian government aircraft is Putin’s presidential modified Il-96-300PU, the Russian answer to the US VC-25A “Air Force One.”
Putin’s presidential Il-96-300PU transport aircraft
A few dozen Il-96-300s were built by Ilyushin for passenger aircraft. Russia’s Rossiya Airlines operates a fleet of four heavily modified Il-96-300PU examples as presidential aircraft.
The PU denotes ‘Command Point,’ signifying the presidential aircraft.
Two of these are deployed every time the Russian president flies, with one carrying the president and the other operating as a decoy.
It is sometimes reported that all four aircraft are fueled up and prepped in advance, with the Russian president then selecting one at random.
They are decked out as opulent flying palaces with spacious offices, a bedroom, a luxury bathroom complete with a gold-plated toilet, and even a gym. Gold trimming can be found everywhere, including the sink (insert kitchen sink joke). The aircraft carries a king-sized bed for Putin.
Executive suites and conference areas are included for briefings and private discussions. Reporters who have travelled with the Russian president in the past have described the aircraft as more like a luxury yacht than a conventional passenger jet.
Still, Putin’s presidential aircraft is also equipped with advanced communication systems. It is also known to be capable of in-air refuelling, and has laser anti-missile protection and other classified security enhancements.
Russia’s Ilyushin Il-96 airliner
The Il-96-300 quad-engined airliner entered service in 1988 in the dying days of the USSR. It entered service with Aeroflot in 1992, and only around 33 have been built, with most flying for the Russian government.
Rossiya Special Flight Detachment and the Russian Ministry of Defence operate the Ilyushins. Two are also in service for the Russian cargo airline, Sky Gates Airlines.
Notably, only one is currently flying as a commercial passenger aircraft. According to Planespotters.net, Cuba’s heavily sanctioned Cubana de Aviacion operates one active example and has another in storage.
Since Western-led sanctions cut Russia’s aviation industry off, Russia has looked at putting the obsolete quad-engine airliner back into production. Focus has been on older variants and not updated variants that rely more on imported Western components. The main Russian focus is to put the smaller MC-21 airliner into production without Western components.
Other aircraft in the entourage
The summit appears to be a major event with Russia’s special aircraft. The open-source account, Evergreen Intel, tracked all available Il-96 aircraft in RSD inventory (except one), moving in the last 36 hours. A total of 34 special Russian aircraft were seen operating.
In all seriousness, it was a lot.
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) August 15, 2025
8/14/25 totals: 34
Includes:
1 SBUS unit
3 comms relays
2 airborne CPs
2 tail spike Tu-134s
5x Il-76s
6x Il-96-300s
1x Il-96-400VVIP
13x passenger jets
Plus, every available Il-96 in RSD inventory (save one) moved in the last 36 hours. https://t.co/3JreD0V0bA pic.twitter.com/KHbprIdDZ0
Among the Russian aircraft arriving in Alaska is a Russian Il-96 special aircraft registered RA-96023. That aircraft became infamous seven years ago. According to Argentina’s news outlet, Clarin, in 2016, Argentine authorities discovered almost 400 kgs or 880 lbs of cocaine at a Russian diplomatic compound in Buenos Aires.
Argentine police published photos of the Il-96 RA-96023. Visegrád 24 wrote that the aircraft “was allegedly meant to transport that cocaine back to Russia via diplomatic mail.” Russia denied this.
