(MOSCOW AND DAVOS, SWITZERLAND) – Russian airlines will receive mothballed Soviet and Russian made aircraft in 2026 and 2027 in an effort to maintain passenger traffic, according to the state industrial conglomerate Rostec, speaking to the pro Kremlin daily Izvestia. The move reflects growing pressure on Russia’s civil aviation sector after years of international sanctions linked to the full scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian officials initially assumed that sanctions would be short lived, based on expectations of a rapid military victory. When that outcome failed to materialise, airlines began attempting to source spare parts through informal channels to keep Western built aircraft flying. At the same time, hundreds of aircraft leased from foreign companies were retained inside Russia at the start of the invasion and not returned, deepening the sector’s isolation from global aviation markets.
That approach has become increasingly unsustainable. Over the past winter, Russian aviation authorities reported numerous incidents, including at least three major accidents. The most recent involved an ageing Boeing aircraft scheduled to fly from Magadan to Moscow, where an engine failure prevented the flight from proceeding. Russian media also reported serious incidents on routes between Moscow and Cuba and between Moscow and Phuket.
Air safety concerns have grown alongside frequent flight cancellations and temporary airport closures, driven in part by the expanding reach of Ukrainian drones into Russian airspace. Russian commentators have openly described some aircraft as flying coffins, reflecting public anxiety about the condition of the fleet.
Rostec’s plan involves restoring aircraft that were previously withdrawn from service because of age and technical limitations. Officials have presented this as a reintroduction rather than a safety risk, despite concerns that the aircraft are decades old and rely on outdated technology. Industry analysts note that the decision follows years of cannibalising grounded aircraft for spare parts and difficulties in smuggling components needed for maintenance.
Before the invasion, around seventy five percent of Russia’s commercial aircraft were built in the United States, the European Union or Canada. While this reliance is common across global aviation, Russian authorities have long promoted the idea of national self sufficiency and the legacy of Soviet era aircraft design. Many of those historic design bureaux, however, were based in what is now Ukraine.
The Russian government has repeatedly promised to replace foreign aircraft with domestically produced models, pledging output of more than one hundred aircraft a year. In practice, only a small number have been delivered since the invasion, far short of official targets.
The aviation challenges coincided with the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed international leaders. No official Russian delegation attended. Observers noted that even if they had wished to do so, travel constraints and safety concerns may have complicated their participation.
In his speech, Zelenskyy argued that protecting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was not enough to ensure long term security. He said the most effective way to end Russian attacks was to strike missile production sites inside Russia, stressing that Ukraine knew their locations but required long range weapons to do so.
Zelenskyy also framed Ukraine’s defence as essential to the security of Europe as a whole, warning that failure to act decisively would embolden Moscow and regimes it supports. He drew parallels with Belarus, where protests after disputed elections in 2020 were not matched by sustained international pressure. Belarus is now used by Russia as a base for missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader called on Europe to move beyond discussion of a new world order and to act as a unified political and military force. He suggested that Ukraine’s experience of resilience under attack could become relevant for the wider European Union in the near future.
