A Russian aircaft loaded with humanitarian aid and chartered by the Russian ultra-nationalist leader, Mr Vladimir Zhirinovsky, arrived in Baghdad yesterday after a three-day delay waiting for UN authorisation.
The aircraft had been stranded at Yerevan airport in Armenia following US moves to block the flight.
However, a UN committee gave it the green light late on Tuesday, following contacts between Washington and Moscow and an agreement by the Russian delegation to cut the passenger list from more than 100 to 30.
According to journalists, Mr Zhirinovsky struck the Russian ambassador to Armenia in the face in a row over the flight.
The incident occurred when he tried to get 50 people aboard the aircraft instead of the 30 authorised by the UN sanctions committee.
The Ilyushin-86 brought in 12 tonnes of food and medical aid for Iraq.
It was the second time since December that Mr Zhirinovsky, leader of Russia's extreme Liberal Democratic Party, managed to fly humanitarian supplies to Baghdad.
A flight on Christmas Day to Baghdad airport was the first since the 1991 Gulf War and was followed by two other aid flights, from Iceland and Djibouti.
The maverick Russian deputy was accompanied on the latest flight to Baghdad by around a dozen fellow members of the Duma and 15 journalists. The Zhirinovsky group also plans to visit disputed "presidential sites" which UN arms inspectors say may hide Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Zhirinovsky has championed the cause of his "friend", President Saddam Hussein, and vociferously attacked what he sees as US imperialism.
Mr Zhirinovsky's flight is widely considered as an attempt to attract media attention, which has gradually ebbed away since the whirlwind of interest created by his surprise score of 22.9 per cent of votes in the 1993 Russian general elections.