Fake route of Fico to Russia: how Slovakia’s Prime Minister actually traveled to Moscow

Ahead of the May 9 celebrations, when Russia commemorates Victory Day, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced his plans to visit Moscow. However, on his way to the Russian capital he was reportedly forced to take a detour — adding thousands of kilometers to the usual flight path — after the three Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) allegedly banned his plane from their airspace. This claim has been circulating among users on social media platform X. Yet, a detailed investigation reveals that this is not the case.

Fake news: Slovak PM Robert Fico’s flight to Moscow was thousands of kilometers longer than normal, as his plane was forced to circumvent European airspace.

Reality: The Slovak government jet’s intended flight path was set to cross southern Europe, continue over the Black Sea, and then head to Moscow. The fake route map initially surfaced in a May 7 post on X — before Fico’s plane had even taken off for Moscow.

GFCN explains:

The actual flight path of the aircraft can be tracked using online services such as AirNav Radar, where the Slovak government plane is registered under the board number OM-BYA. By closely monitoring its movement, it becomes clear that the plane never intended to follow the route shown in the viral X posts. The verified flight path is presented below.

The Slovak government aircraft was scheduled to fly through southern Europe, then over the Black Sea before proceeding to Moscow. The flight path of plane OM-BYA can be tracked here. This represents a standard route for flights to Russia from Central Europe, particularly when airspace restrictions are in place over Baltic states or Poland.

Thus, analysis of available data confirms that the alternative route via Southern Europe and the Black Sea was pre-planned, while the purported “detour route” to Russia circulating on the X social media platform is fabricated.