RFE
05 Mar 2025

On February 13, two weeks before Russia's full-scalewar against Ukrainereached the three-year mark, the US Department of Justice announced it had arrested three people linked to an Ohio company on charges of exporting $2 million worth of civilian aircraft parts and components to Russia in circumvention of US export laws.

It was at least the fifth time in the past three years that the United States has accused an individual or larger entity of involvement in ascheme to illegally ship aircraft parts to Russia. In the latest case, all three individuals were current and former employees of Flighttime Enterprises, a US subsidiary of a Russian aircraft parts supplier.

The growing number of smuggling cases reflects a broad and deep crisis within Russia's civilian airline industry, which has been under sweeping US and European sanctions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Leah Walker, lab director for the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab, has analyzed Justice Department smuggling indictments going back a decade. She said Russia's aviation sector has been hit so hard by sanctions and is so dependent on Western technology that there are likely more cases.

"We're just starting to see [the cases]. And I think there's a lot more that's not reported," Walker told RFE/RL. "We don't often realize -- both in Europe and the United States -- how dominant we are in aviation."

Passengers disembark a Boeing 737-800 plane operated by the Pobeda Airline at the Khrabrovo airport in Kaliningrad, Russia.

There can be a two-year lag between the act of smuggling and the Justice Department publicly announcing charges, she said. Sometimes it can't move forward with a case because it is unable to get assistance from counterparts in foreign countries that are used as intermediary states before final delivery to Russia.

While China also targets the US aviation industry as well, it tends to use cyber means to steal intellectual property or trade secrets. Russia prefers to smuggle parts, doing so in small sizes, she said.

US-made Boeings and EU-made Airbus planes account for two-thirds of Russia's commercial fleet but carry about 90 percent of passengers. Like all aircraft, those planes require regular maintenance checkups by certified experts with certified parts.

The Western sanctions ban individuals and companies from servicing those planes and upgrading parts, leaving Russian airlines with tough choices. They can either mothball planes that reach required maintenance checkup until sanctions are over, risk flying the planes and potentially putting passenger lives in danger, or smuggling in certified parts and paying off experts to conduct maintenance in violation of sanctions.

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Russian airlines have largely chosen the latter two options, and the results are evident. Equipment failures are becoming more frequent with engine malfunctions the most concerning.

Between December 1, 2024, and January 20, 2025, aircraft in Russia's civilian park suffered 11 engine failures compared to just five incidents in the previous two months. Eight were either Boeing or Airbus, while three were Russian-made Sukhoi Superjets.

In early January, a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 headed to Yekaterinburg from a popular resort town in Egypt had to return to the airport after its left engine failed shortly after takeoff. No one was injured in the incident.

Sanctions prevent Ural Airlines from having the engine replaced by certified experts.

"That aircraft will probably just rust in Egypt until sanctions are lifted or Ural Airlines manages to sell it," a Russian pilot told RFE/RL's Russian Service.

Jump In Incidents

Aviation incidents in Russia were on pace last year for a 25 percent increase, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe. There were 208 incidents during the first 11 months of the year, compared to 161 in the same period of 2023. The full-year results were not yet available.

At least 90 of these incidents involved unscheduled landings due to system failures, with engine and landing gear failures accounting for the majority of cases.

A view of an Ural Airlines aircraft that crash-landed near the village of Ubinskoye in Russia's Novosibirsk region in September 2023.

Aviation experts believe the situation will only worsen this year unless sanctions are lifted, as planes continue to be exploited long beyond the timeframe of a comprehensive maintenance checkup.

Planes require a thorough examination of their structure, systems, and components -- known in the industry as a C Check -- every 18-24 months or after completion of 3,000-6,000 flight hours. Planes are typically out of commission for several weeks during the C Check.

Every six to 12 years, planes are stripped down for an inspection of their components, which are either repaired or replaced as needed. Known as a D Check, this process can take up to two months.

However, none of this is possible without direct cooperation with aircraft manufacturers. With sanctions now extending into their fourth year, planes in Russia's fleet are nearing a critical point, according to a Russian flight safety expert interviewed by RFE/RL's Russian Service.

"I don't have exact data on the lifespan of all Russian aircraft, but 2025 will be the last year of legal operation for most of them," the expert said. Like others cited in this report, he spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject and potential repercussions.

Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, designed specifically for the Airbus A350 family of aircraft, are seen on the assembly line at a factory in England.

Russian airlines are trying to stretch aircraft lifespans by smuggling certified parts from the United States and Europe unofficial sources, resorting to unofficial maintenance checks and reducing flight frequency.

In the five cases in the United States since February 2022, the suspects exported items like carbon disk brake systems for the Boeing 737 as well as avionics, which include communications, navigation, and control systems. In most of the cases, the suspects sought to reroute the parts to Russia via third countries like Turkey, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.

China Pivot?

Over the past decade, as tensions between Moscow and the West intensified following Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region and incitement of war in the Donbas, the Kremlin stepped up investment in its aerospace industry to reduce dependence on US and European planes.

Today, Russia's fleet consists of about 700 foreign aircraft and 150 Sukhoi Superjets. But sanctions are also impacting the ramp up of domestic planes as they too rely on Western parts like avionics.

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The Superjet's fuselage and wings are made in Russia but the aircraft's key components -- engines, avionics, electrical systems, landing gear, and fuel systems -- come from Western manufacturers.

While the Superjet can get C and D checks inside Russia, airlines would still face the same problem of sourcing any Western parts needed for its upgrade.

"Both foreign planes and Superjets will eventually be grounded due to a lack of parts. The Superjets will just last about a year longer," said another flight safety expert.

As it seeks to shed its deep dependence on Western aerospace technology, Russia is pinning its hopes on a new domestic plane, the MC-21.

According to a 2022 government plan, Russia aimed to produce 1,036 aircraft by 2030, including 270 MC-21s, 142 Superjets, 70 Tu-214s, and others.

However, mass production has been delayed by years in part by the sweeping Western technology sanctions and in part by the need to channel resources into the war effort.

A view of the crash site of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the Moscow region in July 2024

"We're great at riveting airframes; Soviet fuselages and wings were the strongest. But we don't have engines or modern avionics because of sanctions," a Russian pilot explained.

Replacing MC-21's foreign components is particularly difficult. The plane was initially designed with American engines and avionics, and Russia lacks the technological base to replace them.

"We're 40 years behind in engine technology. The same goes for composite materials," one of the flight safety experts noted.

As with so many other struggling domestic sectors, Russia may turn for help to China, which is developing its own aircraft engines. If China can supply Russia with reliable engines, the MC-21 may have a future, according to experts, but not until 2029 at the earliest.

China's C919 aircraft currently uses Western engines, making it unavailable for Russia. However, China plans to develop a domestic engine by this year or next.

"China will end up with an aircraft for pariah states -- Iran, North Korea, and Russia," one of the experts who spoke with RFE/RL concluded.