Pilot Writing Diplomatic Message In Sky Using Route At Ukraine's Border Exposed As Stunt

A pilot has written the word “relax” in the skies of the Ukrainian border amid warnings of a potential Russian invasion. 

The Airbus, which belongs to the national airline of Ukraine’s southern neighbour Moldova, spelled out the word on Thursday 17th February 2022. 

The Airbus A321 departed from Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, for a flight time of one hour and 40 minutes, before it returned back to the same airport.

The airplane flew at an altitude of 10,000 feet during its journey, travelling just 25 miles away from the country’s border with Ukraine.

It was reported that around 60,000 people tracked the Air Moldova flight, which also had the callsign “RELAX”, on the flightradar24.com website.

A representative of the site previously told VICE World News that the flight data was real. 

“The aircraft is indeed flying this pattern above Moldova,” the spokesperson revealed to the news site.

However, the flight was revealed to be a publicity stunt to advertise for the launch of a new radio station, Radio Relax Moldova.

The station even posted about the event on their Instagram page, noting that they were now “on air”, in the literal sense.

The message in the sky comes as The United States reported that 7,000 more Russian troops have arrived near the Ukraine border, contradicting claims made by the Kremlin that it was pulling back.

A day after Russia said that it was partially withdrawing some forces, satellite imagery revealed that much of the military build-up remained in place.

The Times reports that a number of vehicle convoys were seen redeploying troops, including one spotted heading west through Belarus towards Ukraine.