Russian airlines are "updating" their fleet with old aircraft – CPD

Russian airlines have begun to massively de-mothball old aircraft to maintain passenger traffic in 2026. The news is presented as a “positive” and a sign of the industry’s “stability,” but in essence, it is a diagnosis for the entire Russian civil aviation industry. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (CPD), informs UNN.

DetailsIt is noted that Russian air carriers have received refurbished Tu-204/214, An-148, Il-96, and also plan to return old Boeing 747s to service. However, this is not about fleet renewal, but about the forced resuscitation of machines that should have been decommissioned long ago.

The reason is obvious: sanctions, war, and the failure of import substitution have left Russia without access to modern aircraft, spare parts, and technologies. The promised “breakthrough” civil aviation projects have existed only on paper for years. The industry survives on equipment from the last century, whose resources are being depleted. And the return of old aircraft is a desperate attempt to postpone the inevitable decline.

They summarize that Russian civil aviation is rapidly degrading, and this is another example of how the Kremlin’s decisions lead to the destruction of entire sectors of the Russian economy.

RecallAccording to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Russian regions are experiencing an increasingly deep impasse, as sanctions and the loss of external markets have exposed the structural weakness of their budgets. The worst situation is observed in depressed entities, as well as in industrial and metallurgical regions, where significant budget deficits are predicted.

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