Russia’s aviation cripped with spares shortage, Illegal spares make way despite sanctions

In spite of economic sanctions enacted by the West, millions of dollars’ worth of aircraft parts made their way into Russia in 2022. The New York Times reported that $14.4 million US-made parts were smuggled into Russia in 2022 citing customs data, of which about $9 million were Boeing parts. Boeing has distanced itself from the whole affair confirming that it has not done business with Russia since sanctions were imposed. According to Cirium, Russian airlines are currently operating 467 Boeing and Airbus planes down from 544 one year back. Most of these are on-lease from Western lessors that Russia