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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Thomas Haynes

Passenger plane draws 'RELAX' with flight path near Ukraine border amid war fears

A passenger plane used its flight path to sketch the word "relax" near Ukraine's border.

As tensions mount between Russia and Ukraine, the Air Moldova plane drew an 80-mile wide version of the message using its flight path, data from Flightradar24.com showed.

The 23-year-old Airbus A321 using "Relax" as its call sign, departed from Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, for a one-hour 40-minute flight before landing back at the same airport on Thursday afternoon (February 17).

Over 30,000 users watched as it flew at an altitude of 10,000 feet, at times coming within 25 miles from the country's border with Ukraine, PA news agency reports.

Air Moldova did not respond to requests for comments by the Press Association.

It flew at an altitude of 10,000 feet, at times just 25 miles from the country's border with Ukraine (PA/Flightradar24.com)

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An estimated 130,000 Kremlin troops remain idly on the border between the two nations and the standoff continues.

Vladimir Putin joked about what time the war was starting as he continued his barrage of the West and its attempts to build a 'false narrative'.

US president Joe Biden last night called on Putin to step back from the brink of war and sent a message of peace to the Russian people.

Biden said the US has "not yet verified" Russia's claim that some of its forces have withdrawn from the border, adding an invasion of Ukraine remains a distinct possibility.

Speaking from the White House, he warned again that if Russia invades its neighbour, the US "will rally the world to oppose its aggression".

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace reiterated today there is little evidence of a withdrawal, and instead what he'd seen was a "continued build-up of things like field hospitals and strategic weapons systems".

Speaking at the start of two days of talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels by alliance defence ministers, its secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said it was “prepared for the worst”.

He warned: “If Russia once again invades Ukraine they will pay a high price.”

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