Russia Turns to Vietnam for Aircraft as Sanctions Ground Hundreds of Planes

Russia is seeking an agreement with Vietnam to lease aircraft from Vietnamese airlines to Russian carriers, along with crews and maintenance under so-called “wet lease” arrangements.“We sent the relevant proposals to our colleagues, and they are reviewing them,” Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said on Wednesday, following Russian-Vietnamese talks in Moscow.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Russia has sought similar wet-lease agreements with several countries since international sanctions were imposed after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, disabling Russian airlines from legally accessing foreign aircraft and spare parts, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported, citing The Moscow Times.Moscow has approached countries in Central Asia, as well as Qatar, Kuwait, and Ethiopia, over such arrangements.Ethiopia reportedly rejected Russia’s proposal in summer 2025, saying the government did not have the authority to order the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines to lease out aircraft.There were also concerns that such an arrangement could expose the airline to US secondary sanctions.So far, there have been no known agreements under which an airline from another country has leased aircraft to a Russian carrier under a wet-lease arrangement.Russia’s aircraft shortageRussian airlines have been cut off from not only purchasing new Boeing and Airbus aircraft, but also from legally obtaining parts and servicing many of the planes already in their fleets. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Hits Russian Oil, Port Infrastructure in Strikes Stretching From Arctic to Caspian FP-1 drones reportedly hit Russia’s only ice-free deep-water Caspian port, a route used to deliver Iranian Shaheds. Foreign-made aircraft account for roughly two-thirds of Russia’s civilian aircraft fleet and carry around 90% of the country’s air passengers.Nearly 20% of the aircraft operated by Russia’s largest airlines have been grounded because of difficulties obtaining spare parts, according to calculations made by Russian newspaper Kommersant.Of the 673 aircraft operated by Russia’s 11 largest airlines, which account for more than 90% of the country’s passenger traffic, 130 were not in service during the summer, Kommersant reported.Under normal circumstances, airlines typically have no more than around 10% of their fleets out of service at the same time for scheduled maintenance.Excluding Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline group, eight carriers had nearly one-third of their fleets grounded, with 93 of 322 aircraft out of service.In April 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed Russian airlines to lease aircraft from foreign companies under wet-lease arrangements, when previously, such leasing was permitted only between Russian airlines and only for domestic flights. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.