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Russian Highway Shut Down for Warplane Landing Practice

Wikimedia Commons

Drivers in the Russian Far East were treated to a private airshow when the military shut down a highway to let jets practice landing onto a makeshift runway.

Social media videos showed Khabarovsk motorists marveling at the view as the warplanes buzzed overhead, blissfully oblivious to the hours spent stuck in traffic. Others reportedly complained on Thursday about not being warned about the scheduled military exercise.

Russian jets previously practiced emergency landings on the emergency landing strips in that section of the highway in 2007, according to the regional administration’s Instagram account.

This year, the stunts were performed as part of large-scale military drills dubbed “Vostok-2018.”

Those who missed the dramatic performance will get the chance to stand a hair’s breadth away from the jets at least three more times in the next week.

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