Humiliation for Putin as Russia forced to admit it 'lost' 76 jets while 'caught off guard'

Vladimir Putin speaking

Vladimir Putin was likely left red-faced as one of his government ministers publicly conceded Russia had been caught “off guard” by Western sanctions.

Russian Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev said his country’s airlines lost 76 aircraft since the European Union, UK and US enforced their crippling measures in response to the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine.

As reported by Russian state news agency Tass, Mr Savelyev said: “We were unexpectedly caught off guard by the decision to take away the planes.

“In total, we lost 76 passenger jets that were either in technical parking, were being serviced abroad, or were about to carry out flights.”

Mr Savelyev, who has also been hit by sanctions issued by the UK government in 2022, went on to claim the planes “were simply seized from us”.

Vladimir Putin and Vitaly Savelyev

The minister added that 1,167 passenger aircraft are currently in use in Russia.

The sanctions punishing Russia for its illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine hit Moscow particularly hard when it comes to its aviation industry.

More than half of Russian passenger jets have been made abroad and leased by Moscow, Russian-language television channel Current Time reported.

But after the invasion of Ukraine, the US and EU demanded the return of these leased jets.

To work around the sanctions, the Kremlin asked carriers to re-register the aircraft in Russia and, in March 2022, Mr Savelyev said almost 800 jets had been transferred to the national register.

Some companies providing aircraft for leasing, however, have refused to work with Russian carriers.

The sanctions also led aircraft manufacturers including Airbus and Boeing to stop delivering spare parts and new planes to Russia – which means the jets may be flying without receiving software updates or maintenance checks.

These jets can operate in Russia and in the handful of nations that pledged not to seize the planes by enforcing the sanctions.

As the war in Ukraine is entering its second winter, Western allies continue to support Kyiv by providing military and humanitarian aid and targeting Russia with sanctions.

The EU is currently drafting its 12th package of sanctions, while the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published new guidance to close loopholes and make sure sanctions can’t be easily circumvented.