Russia to Fly Surveillance Mission Over Italy Under Open Skies Treaty

The head of Russia's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center said that Russian inspectors will fly over Italy this week as part of the Open Skies arrangement for aerial surveillance.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian inspectors will fly over Italy this week as part of the Open Skies arrangement for aerial surveillance, the head of Russia's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center said.

"The surveillance flight over Italy will be carried out on a Russian An-30B plane under the Open Skies Treaty," Sergei Ryzhkov said.

The flight is scheduled for February 13-17. The Russian plane will take off from the Rome Ciampino Airport and follow a pre-agreed route. Italian inspectors aboard the jet will oversee the mission’s compliance with treaty clauses.

The 2002 Treaty on Open Skies allows for unarmed aerial surveillance flights between 34 member states that ratified the agreement. Of those 27 are in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Russia ratified the agreement in 2001.