It also gives cover to the Russian government. They could rightfully report that he did indeed have a ticket to Cuba but leave out the fact he also has a ticke

It also gives cover to the Russian government. They could rightfully report that he did indeed have a ticket to Cuba but leave out the fact he also has a ticket to somewhere else, or maybe the plane on its trans-atlantic journey is forced by circumstance to land briefly in a friendly country somewhere along the flight path. We should know soon enough :)