Russia has been circumventing international sanctions, successfully acquiring nearly $500 million worth of foreign aviation components since 2022, including those for military aircraft.
Details emerged that Yakovlev, a producer of both military and civilian aircraft and a subsidiary of the Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec (formerly Irkut), has been sidestepping sanctions imposed by the West. The Moscow Times reported that Yakovlev, known for manufacturing Su-30 fighters and Yak-130 training combat aircraft, has secured military equipment worth nearly half a billion US dollars from foreign suppliers since 2022.
Specifically, Russia dispatched Yak-130 aircraft to Iran in September 2023. The report by The Moscow Times highlighted that Yakovlev predominantly purchased components for radar equipment and programmable controllers for military aircraft.
In a broader political context, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed his fifth term on May 7, emphasizing the need for Russia's unchallenged autocratic rule, indirectly calling for a victory in Ukraine. Russian ultranationalists have hailed the onset of another term for Putin as a historic event, openly endorsing the autocratic tradition in which Putin positions himself. One ultranationalist even lauded him as the "Emperor," a title traditionally held by Russian tsars since Peter the Great. They also expressed hopes that Putin would continue to deepen the anti-Western ideology aggressively promoted by the Kremlin since the start of the full-scale invasion.
On the same day, the current Russian cabinet and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin officially resigned, as mandated by the Constitution. The ministers who will return to service and those who will be replaced by Putin will indicate who enjoys Putin’s favor and will signal his political priorities for his fifth term.
Meanwhile, Belarus announced an unexpected nuclear readiness inspection, likely part of a heightened Kremlin campaign for reflexive control aimed at influencing decisions in the West.
On a security note, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on May 7 that it had exposed a network of operatives from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who were planning to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in Ukrainian intelligence and military.
Additionally, on May 7, the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia declared the American NGO Freedom House an "undesirable organization," likely as part of ongoing efforts to tighten control over the domestic information space and further restrict Russians' access to civil society organizations and independent assessments of civil and political rights in Russia.
Recent military updates indicated that Russian troops have made confirmed advancements near Avdiivka (Donetsk) and in the west of the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian occupational officials continue to forcibly recruit Ukrainian civilians into the Russian army in the occupied Kherson region.
The Kremlin is working with the occupational administration to strengthen Russian control over the social protection system for children in occupied Ukraine.
