The man had traveled from Mexico with his family. He said he was afraid of political persecution and offered the US information about the new construction of the Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber and hypersonic missiles.
The Russian war in Ukraine, along with the apparent re-enactment of the Cold War between Russia (or the former Soviet Union) and the West, resulted in a rare incident in an unusual place: according to American media and aviation magazines, is a Russian aeronautical engineer entered and defected on the southern border of the United States with Mexico.
The man, whose name is not mentioned, drove an SUV (allegedly even armored one) with his family and asked customs officials that he was seeking asylum. He later explained that he worked as an aeronautical engineer and had recently worked in Kazan on the Volga (southern Russia) at the local Tupolev plant on the program for the Tupolev Tu-160 “Blackjack” large strategic supersonic bomber. He fears persecution because he supports jailed Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny, left Russia some time ago with his family and is ready to divulge details and secrets – especially about Blackjack and the Kinschal hypersonic cruise missile (NATO code: AS- 24 Killjoy).