Russia says 78 of its planes were confiscated abroad

Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said on Tuesday that 78 Russian planes had been confiscated abroad, the Interfax news agency reported, as Russia suffers the effects of international sanctions over its actions in Ukraine.

Sanctions cut off supplies of aircraft, spare parts, and services to Russia, and Russian airlines have 515 aircraft leased from abroad.

“We lost 78 planes,” Savelyev said, adding that these planes were confiscated abroad and will not be returned to Russia.

Russia has enacted a law allowing Russian airlines to list planes leased from foreign companies in Russia’s registry, but airlines are reluctant to use this right for fear of threatening their relations with international partners.

The minister said Russia had 1,367 planes when the sanctions were imposed and about 800 of them are now listed in the country’s records, but he did not say how many planes leased from foreign companies were listed.