Minister of Sports Degtyarev: the crew with Chernyshenko on board acted professionally

The crew of the plane carrying the Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko showed high professionalism when landing in Mineralnye Vody due to the closure of Iranian airspace. This was announced by the Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev.

“The situation was tense, but the crew coped well. We landed in Russia, in Mineralnye Vody,” Degtyarev noted in a comment to journalists.

Earlier, a plane heading to Qatar with Chernyshenko on board was forced to turn around and land in Mineralnye Vody due to the closure of Iranian airspace.

The special plane, which also included Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov and other members of the delegation, took off from Moscow at approximately 19:00 Moscow time. It was expected that arrival in the capital of Qatar, Doha, would take place around 00:30 Moscow time. However, due to a security threat in Iranian airspace, the plane landed in Mineralnye Vody.

Chernyshenko's press service previously reported that the Deputy Prime Minister plans to visit Qatar on October 2-3 to participate in the Dialogue on Cooperation in Asia summit, as well as hold a number of bilateral meetings.