The Week reports the Russian Air Force has been flying its planes hard to harass the U.S. and the various U.S. allies around its borders. In the past week several have crashed fatally.
Yes, the planes have been busy, and as the article says, they tend to be old planes, dating from the Soviet days. I suspect another factor not mentioned in the article is also to blame.
Several years ago the other DrC and I did a river cruise in Russia - St. Petersburg to Moscow, stopping at a couple of cities along the way. Something we noticed in Moscow and the other Russian cities we visited - apartment buildings apparently receive nearly zero maintenance.
Everything from the Soviet era looked immensely run down. It would appear nobody ever paints a building, or washes a window or ... you name it. Broken windows get fixed, but beyond that, just about zip.
If what we saw represents the standard Russians apply to keeping up their assets, I expect their aircraft aren't much cared for. I can imagine it is easier (and cheaper) to bribe an inspector than to actually do the required and recommended maintenance on aircraft. Remind me not to fly Aeroflot.
Brother Putin is trying to run a world power on the cheap, particularly in this era of low oil prices. New planes seem not to be in the Russian budget.
