Russian Pilots In Venezuela Preparing For Returning To Home Bases - Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) The pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces, who carried out a transatlantic non-stop flight to Venezuela earlier this week, have started preparing for returning to their home airbases in Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

On Monday, two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers, an An-124 military transport aircraft and an Il-62 plane landed in Venezuela. The Russian military has said that the aircraft had flown for over 10 hours covering over 5,000 miles.

"Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, has set a task to organize the preparation for the flight to home bases and to carry it out in line with the approved decision," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that Russia's long-range aviation commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Kobylash had reported to Surovikin via video link-up about the flights of two strategic bombers Tu-160 over the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Kobylash said on Wednesday that the Russian military aircraft had carried out joint interoperability drills with Venezuelan combat planes.