Antonov aircraft lands in Pardubice ahead of observation mission

A special Russian Antonov An-30B aircraft landed at Pardubice airport on Wednesday ahead of a planned observation mission in the Czech Republic over the next one or two days, the Czech Defence Ministry’s Vladimír Šupšak told the Czech News Agency. The Russian inspection team will take pictures of locations of strategic importance on Czech territory under the Open Skies programme of armament monitoring. The country is obliged to accept four observation missions a year and it is allowed to conduct four of its own abroad annually, Mr Šupšak confirmed. The Russian inspection team has 17 members, including the flight crew, technicians and inspectors.