Flying to RUSSIA on a STOLEN AIRPLANE & INTERROGATED at the Border!

Summary

In this gripping episode, airline journalist Josh Cahill embarks on a high-stakes journey to Russia amidst ongoing political tensions and heavy sanctions. Undeterred by the risks, he sets out to explore the current state of the Russian aviation sector and share firsthand experiences of traveling via Aeroflot, a heavily sanctioned airline. He provides insights into the realities of flying on aircrafts that have been re-registered in Russia after being seized, the implications of flying a stolen plane, and his heartfelt impressions upon arriving in Moscow. His journey through Russia, including navigating border interrogations and experiencing local hospitality, offers a unique and engaging perspective on travel journalism in politically sensitive territories.

Highlights

• Josh embarks on a controversial trip to Russia, facing daunting challenges. 🌍
• Navigating Russian aviation amidst heavy international sanctions. 🚀
• Experiencing the thrill and irony of flying on a 'stolen' aircraft. ✈️
• Encountering unexpected hospitality aboard a sanctioned Russian flight. 🤝
• Exploring everyday life changes in Russia, like renamed Western brands. 🍔
• Getting through Russian border and security—an adventure of its own! 🛂
• Josh’s first-hand perspective on Russia amid geopolitical tensions. 🌏
• Taking in the beauty of Moscow's architecture and its historic metro. 🚇

Key Takeaways

• Experiencing a flight on a stolen plane in Russia is as thrilling as it sounds! ✈️
• Russian airlines, despite heavy sanctions, still manage to provide competitive services. 💪
• Josh shares insights on how political situations affect aviation and travel. 🛫
• The unique challenges of traveling with restricted credit card usage in Russia. 💳
• Adventures in Moscow’s stunning metro and the once McDonald's, now a Russian brand. 🍟

Overview

Josh Cahill ventures into the heart of Russia, embarking on a high-stakes journey amidst a backdrop of geopolitical tension and heavy sanctions. His adventure begins with a daring flight on a Russian airliner repurposed from seized foreign assets. Despite the risky undertone of flying on a 'stolen' plane, Josh captures the essence of resilient aviation in a heavily sanctioned nation and offers his audience a peek into the ground realities that align with current global conflicts.

As he navigates his way through Russian airspace and lands in Moscow, Josh's experience is like stepping into a parallel universe where everyday actions, like buying a simple meal, present unique challenges due to international sanctions. He shares an engaging narrative about the unforeseen friendliness aboard his Aeroflot flight, juxtaposed with a tense border interrogation, highlighting the complexities and the human side of aviation journalism during political turbulence.

Exploring Moscow offers him a glimpse into a city full of contrasts—ancient architectures and modern-day renamed western businesses, such as the new Russian McDonald's. Josh's story is not just about the flight or geopolitical issues but an adventurous journey through the scenic Metro of Moscow and witnessing the everyday life of Russians, offering his viewers an authentic experience that is as instructive as it is entertaining.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 03:00: Introduction and Flight Preparation The chapter introduces the current state of war affecting a particular country, highlighting the realities faced by its people. The conversation shifts to Ukraine, touching upon perceptions and the tense situation involving a stolen plane. Additionally, there is a mention of a Russian map that has undergone adjustments. These elements set the stage for understanding the backdrop against which further events and preparations unfold.
• 03:00 - 10:00: Flight Experience and Observations The chapter delves into the personal conflict of the author, an airline journalist, regarding a visit to Russia amid the geopolitical tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Despite his condemnation of the invasion, the author feels a professional obligation to travel to Russia and report on the situation, embodying a clash between personal ethics and journalistic duty.
• 10:00 - 16:00: Arrival and Interrogation at Moscow Airport The chapter 'Arrival and Interrogation at Moscow Airport' delves into the experiences and observations of a traveler arriving in Moscow. It highlights the current state of the Russian Aviation sector and encourages forming opinions based solely on presented facts rather than political views. The narrative touches upon discussions about airline choices, referencing a trip taken on Delta Airlines with a subtle reminder of historical political actions, such as the invasion of Iraq. The chapter suggests an underlying theme of separating travel experiences from political biases while also acknowledging the interplay between the two in public discourse.
• 16:00 - 32:00: Exploration of Moscow The chapter titled 'Exploration of Moscow' begins with a critical perspective on the international airlines industry, highlighting the human rights issues in the originating countries of several airlines, such as Saudia Airlines, El Al, and Singapore Airlines. Despite these concerns, the chapter transitions into a travel narrative, focusing on a journey from Kazakhstan to Russia. The narrator invites readers to experience flying with Russian Airlines and sets the scene for an exploration of Moscow, promising insights into what it's like to travel in this region in the year 2022.
• 32:00 - 38:00: Conclusion and Next Steps The chapter details the narrator's challenging experience of entering a country around the geopolitical constraints. It begins with recounting the hurdles faced to enter, such as taking the last Russian flight allowed into European airspace due to airspace restrictions. Additionally, the chapter sheds light on what it's like to fly on a Russian-manufactured aircraft, specifically the Super Jet. The narrative captures a sense of urgency and concludes with the narrator arriving at attio, described as the lowest commercial airport in the region.

Flying to RUSSIA on a STOLEN AIRPLANE & INTERROGATED at the Border! Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 this country is at War and that's a reality and then he asked me about what do you think about Ukraine and the plane that you see right there is actually stolen so as you can see right here the Russian map has been [Music] adjusted
• 00:30 - 01:00 [Music] the world as we know it changed on February 24 20122 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine an event I condemn for the longest time I was debating whether it's right to visit Russia but as an airline journalist it is exactly what I'm supposed to do to
• 01:00 - 01:30 Showcase you the current reality of the Russian Aviation sector so you can form your opinion based on my reporting nothing more nothing [Music] less if I would consider politics in my reviews I would never get off the ground hey Josh you took a trip on Delta Airlines a country that illegally invaded Iraq hey Josh you took a flight
• 01:30 - 02:00 on Saudia Airlines a country that jails and executes homosexuals hey Josh you flew in LL a country that is engaged in a difficult conflict in gasa hey Josh you took a trip on Singapore Airlines a country that executes people for smoking wheat and the list goes on forever so let's pack our bags and take a trip from Kazakhstan to Russia let me show you what it's like to fly heavily suctioned Russian Airlines in 202 before let me
• 02:00 - 02:30 show you the hurdles I experienced to enter the country let me show you how I took the last Russian flight allowed to enter European airspace and let me show you what it's like to fly the Russian manufacturers suo Super Chat for the next couple of [Music] weeks and here we are welcome from attio the lowest commercial air report in the
• 02:30 - 03:00 world it's freezing cold but it's also the beginning of my Russia Aviation tour and I'm really excited to take you to Moscow so let's do this and let's check in for our Airport flight to Russia and Aro isn't just the lowest airport in the world they're also the only airport in the world where you can measure your blood pressure Hi how are you there you
• 03:00 - 03:30 thank you so all checked in for my flight with a flot and it was rather easy didn't even ask me for my Visa and if you're wondering what visa I'm on it's the new Russian e Visa where you apply online and then usually gets uh approved within 72 hours very straightforward
• 03:30 - 04:00 so here we are boarding the MS 320 and the plane that you see right there is actually stolen property it was delivered to an Irish leing company um 10 years ago and with the Russian invasion uh it was ceased by by a FL or
• 04:00 - 04:30 the Russian government has been re-registered in Russia because back in the days they would register those planes in Bermuda and now it's uh flying under falls regular station in [Music] Russia and there she is a influence airas
• 04:30 - 05:00 a320-200 taking us to Moscow today airl is currently operating 49 of them so let's get on board and see what it's like hi there thank you displ features eight dedicated business class seats as well as 150 in economy making it 158 in total how are you [Music]
• 05:00 - 05:30 hello Hi how are you so guys and here we are welcome on board a heavily suctioned Airbus A320 Russian Airlines have no access to spare parts anymore due to the suctions and that reflects in the current Aviation situation in Russia there's emergency Landings there is planes that are grounded and they are cannibalized for
• 05:30 - 06:00 spare parts and that's the reality in Russia at the moment do I have Fai in this plane I do because I've traveled on Iranian Airlines before which are suffering from the same sanctions for over four decades um and they keep their planes air worthy they're still flying they're in great condition so I'm quite hopeful that Russia is getting a few hints and advises from uh the Iranians which they do actually there's a lot of rumors that uh Russia is sending their
• 06:00 - 06:30 planes to Iran for maintenance and sea checks um but um yeah let's see what the service is like what the onboard experience is going to be like uh now that the industry has changed in Russia but uh crew was very lovely at the door that's already a start and uh yeah looking forward to the next 2 and a half hours to Moscow the arrival experience uh etc etc I think it's going to be a very eye openening tour for me
• 06:30 - 07:00 and we then pushed back for an ontime departure now is also a good time to hit that subscribe button if you don't want to miss out on part two of my Russian Aviation [Music] Adventure
• 07:00 - 07:30 [Music] so guys we just reached cruising altitude and given that this plane is heavily sunction um there's no clues for me that it performs any differently the noise pollution is the same it doesn't seem like any other Airbus 320 to me however I also have the inflight magazine in front of me and uh I was always quite curious to see because uh air flood is a partially a state-owned
• 07:30 - 08:00 Airlines and there is no appreciation um or any clues regarding their army and their you know if the us or the UK would be at War um I'm sure at the American Airlines or British Airways magazine you would have at least one page like showing appreciation support for their army um but there's nothing in there at all um it's quite interesting there's still a few few Western companies advertising in
• 08:00 - 08:30 here such as Carl largerfeld and a lot of Swiss watches are here different companies uh they are advertising in here as well and there's one clue though which I found very interesting is that the destination map where do we have it so as you can see right here um the Russian map has been adjusted apart from the Crimea which has been annexed in 2014 uh the new territories that currently occupied and were added to the
• 08:30 - 09:00 Russian Federation through a referendum such as donbas Kon uh they've already been uh adjusted here in the maps however the United Nations are rejecting those claims uh so is any other Nation so no other nation has recognized uh Russia's claims over the Ukrainian territories I think North Korea does but not even uh China or any of those uh allies of Russia have recognized those claims yeah that's uh the update and uh
• 09:00 - 09:30 it's quite interesting to see cuz obviously there is the Western media then there is Chinese media there's different media so yeah those are the little differences that I've noticed so [Music] far so and what do you get served on a flot uh during these difficult times it's an apple a chocolate
• 09:30 - 10:00 bar and a sandwich and given that they are heavily suctioned this is still more then you get on a 2 and 1 half hour lift hanser flight there you go I said it and yes if you've been wondering you can stream all sorts of inflight entertainment to your personal device on any aor flot flight that doesn't have builtin screens
• 10:00 - 10:30 so guys and here we are inside the L of the aof FL Airbus a32 and it's probably the world's first new review from a stolen plane that I can ensure uh flight so far so good um there's a guy sitting opposite me and he took a photo of me when we were boarding which makes me a little bit suspicious um however maybe it was just a fan or whatever I have no idea but uh I'm I anxious um or paranoid
• 10:30 - 11:00 about entering Russia obviously I've been considering this trip whether it's safe for me to do because Russia is obviously not a big fan of YouTubers journalists um foreigners that are considered unfriendly um the only precaution that I took is that I'm not posting on social media about going to Russia or that I am in Russia because in the past I had cases where haters called Border Police literally because they saw on Instagram
• 11:00 - 11:30 I was flying to a certain country and they called The Border Police and they said I have drugs in my back and stuff like this obviously I didn't have anything but the police took it seriously uh they checked and then I was just asking hey what's going on can you explain this to me and they said hey Josh we can't tell you why we are doing this or what it is but let me tell you that you work in a very jealous industry so to prevent anyone calling the police in Russia and saying hey this guy's a
• 11:30 - 12:00 spy or whatever making up some nonsense claims so I get in troubles I just decided not to update people uh about going to Russia other than that I'm actually super excited uh to go to Russia it's a dream come true for me to stay in the hotel Ukraine uh which I always wanted to I'm absolutely fascinated with Russian architecture and um I've always been fascinated with Moscow I love the city it's beautiful it's an absolute Gem and I actually super excited to be standing on the Red
• 12:00 - 12:30 Square tomorrow and take in the incredible um scener of that city um that is what matters to me politics aside I'm looking forward to it all right now I don't want to block the L for any longer but that's what it looks like we then started our descent into Moscow and to be fair the flight was absolutely decent lovely crew great food and overall I received a lot more than I
• 12:30 - 13:00 would on any other Western Airline on a 2-hour flight despite the heavy suctions everything seems to be functioning ladies and gent welcome to Moscow our aircraft hased sh alander bushin airport where terminal seam the temperature in mosow is
• 13:00 - 13:30 -5° [Music] C thank you [Music] byebye
• 13:30 - 14:00 [Music] so we made it on my way to immigration now uh the only problem is that I'm considered a citizen from an unfriendly country so it could be some troubles ahead but I'll let you know how it goes fingers
• 14:00 - 14:30 [Music] [Music] crossed so 3 hours a lot of drama and a short interrogation session later I have finally entered the Russian Federation I'm going to tell you all about it once I get to the hotel but I at one point I thought this isn't going going to happen I'm not going to enter Russia I'm going
• 14:30 - 15:00 to be sent back or even worse um however what you see behind me is what McDonald's used to be that's the new Russian McDonald's Hi how are you um I need a taxi to hotel ukraina ukra a hotel yeah Ron it's called all right it will cost you 5 month okay that's a good deal okay no problem you go outside you Cross Road one time one time and then just straight
• 15:00 - 15:30 yeah yeah huh how much how already you paid inside thank you mosc uh I have a taxi it's coming yeah yeah I think I've been ripped off cuz I've been waiting here for 15 minutes and no no Uber has shown up yet and I gave him 500 rubles and it's
• 15:30 - 16:00 freezing it's like - 15° and 10 10 10:15 p.m. uh and I landed at 7:00 now so I went through all the pain going through security again so I couldn't enter the terminal cuz the guy stole my money it's not going to happen yo never showed up never showed up never showed up and and I was waiting for 25
• 16:00 - 16:30 minutes eventually the guy would come outside with me and sorted out my Uber taking me to the center of Russia's [Music] [Music] capital
• 16:30 - 17:00 [Music] so here we are right next to the hotel ukraina it's so cold but this city is so beautiful so stunning and so is the
• 17:00 - 17:30 hotel it used to be the tallest hotel in the world for many many years prime location literally just looking at the Russian Parliament and then a big uh propaganda letter uh but yeah this country is at War and that's a reality however let's check in
• 17:30 - 18:00 thank [Music] you stunning Hi how are you colle thank you very much I do yes so that's 70,000 let me and then a 154 okay thank you very much hey thank you you're
• 18:00 - 18:30 Superstar night finally checked [Music] in so guys as part of my Russian Aviation series I'm going to give out this special edition key ring in red removed before flight with my logo on it you probably know that you can purchase
• 18:30 - 19:00 the black ones on my patreon site all you have to do to get this limited edition is to leave a comment and subscribe and share the video with one of your friends and then you might be the proud owner of this kill keying you can also purchase them um using the link in the description box below um in my patreon page starting from the $15 pack so if you just want to keying sign up for the $15 pack and then cancel the
• 19:00 - 19:30 membership immediately and then you will get also this special edition just available until the end of February I don't have too many of them and then I'm going to go back to the black ones they look really cool on your carryon all right now let's get back to the video and trust me I've been waiting for this moment for 20 years this is 20 years 15 17 years 2007 When I Was Here For the First Time as saw the H the hotel from the outside and I mean been
• 19:30 - 20:00 reading about Moscow we've always been obsessed about Moscow for so many years and I said one day I'm going to stay here and today is the day and I can't wait right oh my God
• 20:00 - 20:30 isn't that amazing that's an incredible room so much history in here it's insane it was like so difficult what's the view like oh my God the view is like amazing I'm going to show you in a little bit but damn everything is so difficult you can't use your card because of the sunction so you
• 20:30 - 21:00 have to bring a lot of cash uh into the country which I which I did and then you have to change the money and like leave all the deposit in cash it's just an absolute nightmare but let me uh take my jacket off let me get a bit comfortable and then I tell you what happened to me at the airport which was also like quite quite intense so yeah and here I am it's 7 minutes past midnight and in the ideal world I would have been here for a
• 21:00 - 21:30 couple of hours already I touched down at 7 and yeah it's like what 5 hours to get to the hotel to be honest I didn't expect it to be a piece of cake you know I thought it's going to be difficult there might be some issues the country is at War they have to protect their citizens they have to protect their country and they have to really make sure that whoever enters the country is not a threat to the Russian Federation ation um we would do exactly the same
• 21:30 - 22:00 and if you have been following the news there is people entering the country there's spies they're people sabotaging things they put stuff on fire uh they cause issues that's what happens that's war and um so they have to be extra careful so what happened is I lined up for immigration and there's few different lines and then they have those crosses over it like a big illuminated and a green error so when it's a green error it's your turn you go in you see
• 22:00 - 22:30 the immigration officer and I could tell that at at some of the stations the X was like flushing and that's when an immigration officer came and took the person to separate area which was behind all the lines and I could see it happen to every fifth sixth person and I was like thinking me I'm a citizen of a country that they consider unfriendly so I might get into troubles and when I
• 22:30 - 23:00 walked in there and I saw the immigration officer H she looked like an old grumpy KGB lady and I was like yeah I'm not going to get through here and that's exactly what happened so they they check your passports very carefully I can see they do all the checks because there's a lot of fake passports out there this is how people who want to harm the country that's how they enter the country right they get counter Fay passports and and uh entered through different identities so I could tell
• 23:00 - 23:30 that were very particular they put it on the blue lights and then all the checks and um yeah that's what it did to my passport as well however she wouldn't let me go through somebody came picked me up and said come to the other area and then there I was sitting I wasn't I wasn't really worried because I saw there was a lot of people from all different like races like Asians Arabs westerners a lot of
• 23:30 - 24:00 ukrainians I was like surprised how many ukrainians come to to Russia you could see all those blue passports and uh but they have to go and leave fingerprints and all that kind of stuff um that that was very interesting I didn't know that there's still ukrainians that they allowed to come to Russia and that there's still so many that was very surprising so yeah and then I was sitting there and that's quite of a Funny Story I was sitting there and I saw a bunch of like 80 had crew um in the back and they were walking to
• 24:00 - 24:30 immigration and they would walk past me and I was already like cuz it happens quite often that crew recognizes me so I was already like there and I was like this is embarrassing you probably think like here or Josh once again uh causing troubles there he is so I was sitting there I was like hoping they wouldn't see me and then I had a look and then the one guy just said I know who you are one of the idad crew and then there was like two other edad crew members and they looked at me and they say hey Josh and I was like this is so
• 24:30 - 25:00 embarrassing but if it was you let me know um thanks for saying hello I wasn't in troubles I'm a good uh I'm a good boy U but yeah that was quite funny so often I was sitting there um an immigration officer came a bold guy my age actually very nice so he took me to a separate room and then he asked me what are you doing in Russia why are you coming here what you are you doing for work and then he asked me about what do you think about Ukraine like the situation in
• 25:00 - 25:30 Ukraine and obviously I told him that my grandmother is Ukrainian um my mom is from the Czech Republic and uh obviously I have relations with that country but I said you know it's very sad and all I want is to for Russia and Ukraine to be at peace you know it's just so unnecessary but then also said I don't know much about politics so I can't really judge this situation and he was like uh yeah yeah
• 25:30 - 26:00 yeah and then I said like here I told him how I came to Russia 2007 it was my very first trip for my very first money and he was like uh he was he was very nice and he was laughing and I told him i' travel here and there and he was he was really nice and he asked me whether I have uh Telegram and he said can you show me and I said I do have it but I never use it so I open it I think you just wanted to see it whether I'm in one of of those groups and might be blocked as well in
• 26:00 - 26:30 in in in Russia but so he went through it obviously there wasn't anything and then he left and 15 minutes later a different guy came and gave me my passport and said you can go and line up again you're good to go and I was that was true but I saw it kept on happening that they spot check people especially with countries that they don't like uh or that they have different or difficult relationship at the moment so you don't have to be
• 26:30 - 27:00 worried necessarily coming here but you might be questioned and taken to a separate room and interrogated soorry but like I had nothing to hide I don't feel like um I'm I'm a threat to the country I love Russia coming here for for a long time politics is something else so yeah and then it's very difficult also like here here to just pay for stuff like it's always only cash
• 27:00 - 27:30 cards don't work here anymore because of disunions so that give me a bit of headache at the reception at the check-in and on the way here when you drive to the city you see a lot of propaganda right you see like ads of soldiers ads asking you to join the Army but um tomorrow I'm going to take you through the city we're going to go check out red square and we go to the nearby like uh shopping mall and just to see what it's like right now in Russia I
• 27:30 - 28:00 think it's very interesting and now I've been talking so much I'm super sleepy I'm super tired um but I'm just so happy to be back in Moscow and I I I can't wait to go and explore the city tomorrow and do all the other flights it's it's such an incredible City I I I've I've Loved this city for the longest time it's just mindblowing uh I can recommend everyone to visit it
• 28:00 - 28:30 once in your life it's it's an incredible place but anyways I going to get some sleep and then tomorrow we're going to go out there and see what's in store for us and here we are a beautiful good morning look at the view beautiful looking right at the Russian government or Parliament and now let's head to the Red Square let's do it
• 28:30 - 29:00 [Music] how are you all good [Music] yeah it's freezing cold - 12° but the side of this hotel just warms me up look at
• 29:00 - 29:30 it taking a ride on moscow's M is a once in a lifetime experience as well it's
• 29:30 - 30:00 one of the most beautiful Subway systems in the world carrying 10 million passengers a day but more importantly it's the stunning architecture and the history of it I've seen a lot of public transport around the globe but nothing comes even close to the Moscow [Music] Metro [Music]
• 30:00 - 30:30 [Music] so but before we enter the iconic rat Square let's go and check out the old former Maus or McDonald's and see what it tastes like it was just interesting to see how Russian's everyday life has changed but
• 30:30 - 31:00 what you would notice is that the majority of the western brands are actually still operating within Russia just under a different name so it's pretty much all the same but for instant KFC and Burger King are still operating in the country under the same day and so are many other [Music] businesses so let's see what it tastes
• 31:00 - 31:30 like so to be honest the apart from the fries it tastes exactly like McDonald's and the fries are actually not that bad I like them much better than the regular McDonald's fries so maybe they should adopt [Music] them
• 31:30 - 32:00 so guys and here we are in the heart of Russia the Red Square it's still freezing cold but this is the end of the first part of my Russian Aviation to a flying a FL entering the country what an adventure and the next flight is on Earl air um from here Moscow to kenrad which is the last flight flight that is still allowed to enter European airspace so
• 32:00 - 32:30 we're going to take that um on uh Tuesday so very excited about that also if you want to have access to some extra products check out my patreon page the link is in the description box below you can join my WhatsApp group get your kill keing early access to my videos have your name in the credit um and so on a lot of cool extra parks that you can access um but this is it I'm going to head back to the hotel because it's just too cold to be outside but I hope you
• 32:30 - 33:00 enjoyed it and let me know what you thought about today's trip on airlot and the current situation here in Russia