The United States Will Ultimately Ground 100 Aircraft That Flew to Russia

The US has effectively grounded 100 planes it claims travelled to Russia lately, including a plane operated by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and may have violated US export rules. The US Department of Commerce released a list of 99 Boeing aircraft operated by Russian passenger and cargo airlines, including Aeroflot, AirBridgeCargo, Utair, Nordwind, Azur Air, and Aviastar-TU, as well as Abramovich’s Gulfstream G650, on Friday. Providing any service to these planes without authorization may result in “substantial jail time, fines, loss of export privileges, or other restrictions,” according to the agency in a statement. “By preventing these aircraft from receiving any service, for example including from abroad, international flights from Russia on these aircraft are effectively grounded,” it stated. The action comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration continues to impose sanctions on Russian officials, corporations, and other entities in a bid to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the Ukraine conflict. The US also launched “KleptoCapture” earlier this month, a campaign aimed at holding Russia’s rich elite accountable and ensuring that US sanctions imposed during the Ukraine conflict are executed. The targeted aircrafts, which include 33 Boeing planes operated by Aeroflot AFLT.MM and 12 Boeing 747 cargo planes operated by AirBridge Freight, a unit of Russia’s largest cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr Group, were identified by tail numbers given by the Department of Commerce on Friday. The United States, Canada, and much of Europe have banned Russian planes from flying over their territory, forcing many of Russia’s international flights to be cancelled.