Private jets belonging to Russian oligarchs who flew to Dubai to seek refuge from sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine are virtually stuck there, the Wall Street Journal reported. It has caused more than 100 planes to sit idle at Dubai airports since the start of the war. The magazine reported satellite images and data from the aerospace research company WINGX. According to the WINGX website, “with 49 outbound flights in the first week of March, the Russia-UAE connection is three times busier than before the pandemic, but only two-thirds of outbound activity in the last week of February ». Satellite imagery taken by Earth imaging company Planet Labs also shows an accumulation of private jets from mid-February to early April, according to The Journal. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Western nations united to punish Russia for its actions by imposing a series of sanctions. The sanctions were aimed at destabilizing not only the Russian economy but also some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Many Russian oligarchs and billionaires have seized some of their most luxurious assets as a result of sanctions. Last month, for example, Gibraltar seized a $ 75 million superyacht owned by billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky. Some of Russia’s richest people have taken refuge in places that have not been sanctioned, such as Dubai and the Maldives. In March, four private jets were spotted departing from Moscow for Dubai, according to the Flightradar24 flight monitoring website. In contrast to Western destinations, Dubai has not banned Russian air traffic. However, as these jets fly to Dubai to avoid sanctions, they get stuck there as Russian jet owners can not fly them anywhere else, aviation lawyers and private jet brokers told The Journal. “Many of the Russian-related planes have moved to the United Arab Emirates because you can fly in the airspace there,” said Steve Varsano, CEO of a London-based private jet sales company. “But once you get there, you’re more or less down to earth because you can not maintain the planes.” Recently, the US Department of Commerce imposed sanctions that prevent the supply, maintenance or repair of aircraft connected to Russia. Major airlines, including Boeing and Airbus, also stopped supplying spare parts to Russian airlines as a result of the war. Experts recently commented on the sanctions against oligarchs, with one telling CNN that he believed they were largely “symbolic”.
