CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow. Here’s what we know.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow. He flew in from Riga aboard a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 military transport plane that landed at Vnukovo Airport on the morning of Aug. 25. Around 7 p.m., it emerged that the American plane that had brought Ratcliffe had departed Moscow.

Ratcliffe is the first CIA director to visit Moscow since 2021. His predecessor, William Burns, traveled there that year amid a Russian military buildup near Ukraine’s borders. The trip is also the first visit to Russia by a U.S. administration official since January 2026.

The purpose of Ratcliffe’s visit remains unknown. The trip was never officially announced. The Kremlin claimed it had no knowledge of the American aircraft at Vnukovo and had no meetings scheduled with U.S. administration officials this week. Kremlin pool correspondent Alexander Yunashev said Vladimir Putin changed his work schedule amid Ratcliffe’s visit, canceling a large-scale event planned for Aug. 25. Axios reported that Ratcliffe came for talks, though it did not specify with whom or on what.

One theory holds that the visit may be connected to the release of Charles Zimmerman, an American convicted in Russia. Ksenia Sobchak reported this on her Telegram channel, Krovavaya Barynya (“Bloody Lady”), without citing a source. If true, Zimmerman would be the second American pardoned and sent home by Russian authorities within a month. The first was Robert Gilman, whose release without an exchange was seen as possible groundwork for a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv with U.S. participation.

Another theory holds that Ratcliffe discussed some sort of “important operation” in Moscow. The claim was posted by the Telegram channel Ukraine Context, which is close to Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency. The channel’s authors say preparations for the operation had been “conducted in secrecy for some time” and that its “results could significantly affect what happens next.”

A third theory is that Ratcliffe came to deliver a “warning” to Putin. The Wall Street Journal put it forward. According to the paper, the U.S. has gathered intelligence indicating that Russia has begun preparing for a mobilization to continue its war against Ukraine and may be planning to “test NATO’s resolve” by staging a provocation against alliance member states. The paper also suggested the visit could be tied to the war between the U.S. and Iran, a Russian ally. The day before, Washington announced a new campaign of economic pressure against Iran.

American journalist Michael Weiss also suggested Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to warn against a possible Kremlin escalation against Europe and NATO. ”[It’s] linked to U.S. intelligence shared with Poles, Balts, and Scandinavians, and comes amid a noticeable uptick in suspected GRU [Russian military intelligence] sabotage operations and Russian drone activity,” Weiss said.

Amid the CIA director’s trip, the U.S. asked Ukraine not to strike Moscow. A source told Axios that ahead of Ratcliffe’s visit, Washington notified Kyiv that a high-level delegation would be arriving in the Russian capital and asked it to pause attacks. According to the Financial Times, the U.S. also asked Ukraine not to strike St. Petersburg and Russia’s northern regions through Aug. 26.

Ratcliffe’s visit sent the Moscow Exchange index swinging. News of his arrival pushed it up more than 3%, to 2,141.46 points. The index fell after reports that the plane had left Vnukovo.