Dozens of Russian Aircraft Have Mysteriously Disappeared

Russian authorities are investigating the mysterious disappearance of several aircraft, several of which ended up in the hands of Ukrainian forces battling Moscow's troops, according to Russian media.

Russia's domestic security service, the FSB, is looking into allegations that Moscow's Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, sent Russian civil aircraft and helicopters to nations including "unfriendly countries," state-backed Russian newspaper, Izvestia , reported on Monday.

"The Federal Security Service opened two criminal cases — negligence and abuse of power — against several employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency," according to Izvestia . The employees are "suspected of illegally removing 59 planes and helicopters from Russian jurisdiction" after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, the newspaper reported.

A number of the unaccounted-for aircraft were used by Ukraine in military operations against Russia, Izvestia reported, citing two anonymous Russian law enforcement sources and an unnamed source in Moscow's transport ministry.

Ukraine used several Mi-8 helicopters, as well as an Il-76 multi-purpose strategic airlifter, against Moscow's forces in Ukraine, the newspaper reported.

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency, the Ministry for Transport and Ukraine's military for comment via email. The Kremlin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov , declined to respond to queries about the FSB investigation on Monday, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

The Ministry of Transport audited Rosaviatsiya's records of civil aircraft in July 2023, and inconsistencies led to the criminal investigations, Izvestia reported. Employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency "removed" aircraft from a register of civil assets "without complete sets of documents, provided contradictory and unreliable information about the location of aircraft outside Russia," according to the newspaper, citing a Ministry of Transport spokesperson.

The Federal Air Transport Agency deals with the country's civil aviation sector and control of Russia's airspace. It is also in charge of certifying "aircraft ownership rights and related transactions," according to the Russian government.

Russia has used its Mi-8 helicopter extensively in operations across Ukraine. The helicopter is used to transport troops, and is one of the most widely-used helicopters among the world's militaries . There are many different variants of the Mi-8, including helicopters used as airborne command posts and as armed gunship, according to the U.S. military .

Kyiv has said at several points during the nearly two years of war that it has shot down Russian Mi-8 helicopters, including using U.S.-provided HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

Ukraine also said in August 2023 that it had managed to coax a Russian Mi-8 pilot to land in Kyiv-controlled territory before confiscating the helicopter.

Earlier this month, Russian officials said an Mi-8 helicopter had crashed in a lake in the country's northern Karelia region. Another Mi-8 crashed in Kyrgyzstan in mid-January.