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Russia Flies Civilians in Military Cargo Planes as Aviation Crisis Deepens
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia has begun transporting civilian airline passengers on cargo aircraft, a move that experts say reflects the ongoing deterioration of the country’s civil aviation sector.
According to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), a recent incident in the Irkutsk region involved passengers being transferred without notice from a scheduled Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft to a cargo-configured An-26.
Eyewitness accounts cited by the CCD indicate that passengers, including children, were forced to fly alongside cargo in conditions that lacked standard seating or safety features typical of passenger flights.
The CCD stated that this was not an isolated event, but rather indicative of “systemic problems” in Russia’s aviation industry. Western sanctions have cut off the country’s access to aircraft parts, technical support, and servicing for Western-built planes. Domestic production has so far failed to meet demand.
Efforts to replace older aircraft with locally produced models, such as the Il-114-300 turboprop, have faced repeated delays. The aircraft has not yet received full certification, and its entry into service has been postponed multiple times.
Even Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency has acknowledged the scale of the challenge. According to the CCD, official estimates suggest that Russia could lose as many as 339 aircraft over the next five years due to wear and lack of spare parts.
The use of cargo planes for civilian transport highlights the wider collapse of Russia’s civilian infrastructure under the pressure of prolonged war and international isolation, the Center said.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that Russia replaced the CEO of Tupolev following missed aircraft delivery targets and mounting legal claims over unfulfilled defense contracts.
The company, responsible for producing strategic bombers like the Tu‑160 and Tu‑22M3, has faced delays in both military and commercial programs, with only two Tu‑160M bombers delivered out of four expected since 2022.
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