The West's all-encompassing sanctions have failed to halt the lavish lifestyles of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. Although Western countries have tightened a web of sanctions targeting Russia's privileged class since the war in Ukraine, they continue to traverse the world aboard top-tier Western-made private jets.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that an analysis of aircraft import data and flight tracking records showed Putin's associates continue to use business jets made by Western manufacturers while skirting sanctions.
One telling scene is at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. A $75 million (about 116.9 billion won) Bombardier Global 7500, favored by the world's wealthy, is parked there. The jet belongs to Sergei Chemezov, chief executive officer (CEO) of Russian state-owned defense firm Rostec. Chemezov, who served alongside Putin in the KGB, the former Soviet intelligence agency, used to frequent Europe, including Spain, before the war. But as sanctions intensified, he turned to Dubai, Turkey, and Southeast Asia.
According to flight tracking firm Flightradar24, Chemezov visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at least six times between last October and this January.
Arkady Rotenberg, a longtime Putin associate, and Igor Kesaev, a new tycoon tied to the defense industry, are also subject to U.S. and European Union (EU) sanctions yet operate Western-made jets. Rotenberg, who amassed wealth by winning government contracts after Putin took power, has operated two Bombardier Global jets made by Canada's Bombardier since late 2022, traveling between resorts in the UAE and Azerbaijan. Kesaev brought in a Bombardier Global Express in 2023.
The outlet noted that "Russian elites have only partly changed their lifestyles since the war, and sanctions have not significantly constrained their international daily lives." Those who once roamed London, the French Riviera, and the Swiss Alps have now moved their stage to the UAE, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
The key is roundabout deals using brokers. According to the outlet, European aviation brokerage and management companies buy Bombardier or Gulfstream jets, new or used, register them in countries that do not participate in sanctions—such as the UAE, Oman, Kazakhstan, and South Africa—and then hand them over to the Russian side.
The Donald Trump administration's looser enforcement of sanctions is also cited as a reason for the recent resurgence in the inflow of Western products into Russia. John Smith, a former director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), criticized the current administration for sidelining sanctions against Russia as it focuses on drug trafficking and Iran. "Sanctions enforcement is like a game of whack-a-mole," he said. "Tracking and blocking evasion tactics requires considerable effort, but this administration has decided not to focus on pressuring Russia."
