What does Russian civil aviation look like in the fourth year of the war?

August 17 is Russian Air Fleet Day.

The last three and a half years have been challenging for Russian aviation: flying under sanctions, and obtaining spare parts for aircraft has become possible only through roundabout routes (or by salvaging them from other aircraft – so-called "aviation cannibalism").

To top it all off, airlines are suffering multi-billion dollar losses due to downtime associated with drone attacks on airports across the country.

According to the Interstate Aviation Committee, over 170 people have died in air crashes involving Russian aircraft over the past three and a half years. The agency's statistics do not include the August 2023 crash, which killed 10 people (including Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner PMC). They also omit the 38 people killed in the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan last December (presumably shot down over Chechnya while fending off drone attacks).

In honor of Air Force Day, NeMoscow has compiled key figures reflecting the state of Russian aviation in 2025.