Task 1: Professional News Article
Russia Abandons 24 Combat Aircraft at Lipetsk Air Base Amid Maintenance Crisis
(LIPETSK, RUSSIA) — Independent satellite imagery has revealed that the Russian military has been forced to decommission at least 24 combat aircraft since mid 2023 at the Lipetsk air base. Analysts from Military Watch and open source intelligence observers report that the aircraft, including sophisticated Su-35 and MiG-31 variants, have been moved to a storage “boneyard” due to an acute lack of spare parts and an inability to maintain the airframes under the pressure of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Historical data from June 2022 initially showed 57 MiG-29, 25 MiG-31, two Su-24, three Su-25, and seven Su-27 aircraft in the decommissioned area. At that stage, the site included three aircraft from the Russian aerial display team and four helicopters of an unidentified type. The airframes appeared in various states of decay, with some partially dismantled, nose cones removed, or stripped of wings and critical components. Most of the MiG-29 and MiG-31 units had remained stationary since 2010.
By May 2023, the inventory fluctuated slightly to 55 MiG-29, 24 MiG-31, four Su-24, two Su-25, and eight Su-27 units. The reduction in some models suggests that the Russian military attempted to cannibalise the most serviceable airframes for parts or return them to active duty to mitigate equipment shortages. This process of stripping older frames for components is a common practice when a military faces logistical constraints and sanctions on high-technology parts.
The most significant shift occurred by June 2025, when the number of decommissioned aircraft rose sharply. The storage area now contains 56 MiG-29, 28 MiG-31, eight Su-24, and seven Su-25 units. Crucially, eight modern “Flanker” variants, including four Su-35s and a single Su-34 fighter-bomber, were added to the scrap pile. This represents a confirmed loss of 24 aircraft that have been rendered non-operational since mid 2023, averaging approximately 12 decommissioned jets per year.
While the Russian dictator has sought to project an image of military industrial resilience, the presence of these aircraft in the boneyard without visible battle damage points to a systemic failure in maintenance. Although Ukraine has not directly struck these specific units with drones, they are regarded as total operational losses. For the Su-35 fleet alone, Russia started the war with 110 units and has seen 12 removed from the active roster through a combination of eight combat losses and four maintenance failures. Given that Lipetsk is only one of several bases with such storage facilities, the true total of aircraft lost to mechanical exhaustion is likely much higher.
Satellite imagery of Lipetsk air base shows that 24 aircraft have been decomissioned and added to the boneyard since mid 2023 because of a lack of spare parts and an ability to maintain them including Mig-31, Su-35, Su-30 and Su-25.
