The United States Department of Commerce, via the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), is set to effectively ground 100 planes that have made recent trips to Russia. The government agency further said these aircraft are being targeted because of apparent Export Administration Regulations (EAR) violations.

Reuters first reported the story and obtained a list of the aircraft being sanctioned, which also included a private jet owned by Russian oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich. Abramovich owns the English Premier League football club, Chelsea.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves, said,

“The actions we have taken to date have isolated Russia and Belarus from the global economy, and I hope that today’s action brings that fact home to the Russian businesses and oligarchs that seek to continue their operations. We are working with our allies and partners to ensure that Russia and Belarus understand that our actions aren’t idle words or dead letters on the page. They have real teeth and as Putin’s vicious war continues, they will continue to bite harder on the Russian and Belarusian economies.”

What does “effectively ground” mean?

Abramovich’s Gulfstream G650ER and Boeing aircraft operated by other Russian airlines like Aeroflot, Utair, Nordwind, Azur Air, AirBridgeCargo, and Aviastar will be effectively grounded after this DOC action. This isn’t a direct grounding as the US doesn’t have the power to stop these aircraft from operating in other countries. Instead, the move to stop refueling, maintenance, repair, and spare part services will result in these 100 aircraft becoming inoperable.

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The DOC has laid out severe consequences for any entity providing services to these aircraft without prior authorization. Anyone found in violation of these guidelines faces BIS enforcement actions like jail time, loss of export privileges, and hefty fines, among others.

The list

The US DOC has also released a list of all aircraft affected along with the statement. Apart from Abramovich’s private jet, the 100-aircraft strong list comprises only of planes made by Boeing. The list includes 32 737s belonging to Aeroflot, Utair, Nordwind, & Azur Air, 12 of AirBridge Cargo’s 747 freighters, 13 757s from Azur Air & Aviastar-TU, 14 767s of Utair & Azur Air, and 28 widebody 777s from Aeroflot, Azur Air & Nordwind.

The detailed list with tail and serial numbers is available here.

Some context

Ever since the war in Ukraine started a few weeks ago, the United States and its allies have been imposing severe economic sanctions on Russia. Though multifaceted in nature, a large part of the sanction packages announced by the US is focused on crippling the Russian aviation industry. Early measures only included airspace bans for all Russian registered and operated aircraft, but as the conflict kept growing, so did the scope of the sanctions.

Based on sanctions announced by the European Union in late February, Airbus announced the closing of all Russian operations, including its Moscow engineering center. The policy changes prohibit Airbus and any other EU company from delivering any new aircraft, parts, and spares to Russian airlines. On the other hand, Boeing decided against waiting for any governmental order regarding the matter and unilaterally announced the suspension of major operations in Russia.