On Wednesday, the ministry of Russia revealed that a Russian military plane carrying medical equipment has left Russia and is headed for the United States. The plane is reportedly packed with medical masks and other “medical equipment.”
The ministry released a video that showed the plane loaded with boxes and getting ready to leave a military airbase not far from Moscow.
The shipment of supplies reportedly came to be shortly after Vladimir Putin spoke with Donald Trump by phone on Monday.
This isn’t the first time that Russia has offered a helping hand during the coronavirus pandemic. It also sent supplies and medical experts to Italy as part of a humanitarian effort.
According to officials from Moscow, the supplies to Italy included 100 virus specialists with experience dealing with Ebola and swine fever.
Russia also sent 1,000 coronavirus testing kits to ex-Soviet states and countries including Iran and North Korea back in March.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin stated on Tuesday that Putin expected the U.S. to return the gesture if Russia faces a similar crisis.
“Today, when the situation touches absolutely everyone and is of a global nature, there is no alternative to acting together in the spirit of partnership and mutual assistance,” Peskov said.
Earlier this week, Trump stated that “Russia sent us a very, very large planeload of things, medical equipment, which was very nice.”
Russia has seen a drastic rise in infections. It currently has 2,337 cases and 17 confirmed deaths.
According to John Hopkins, the U.S. currently has 188,663 and over 4,000 confirmed deaths.
