Proekt analyzed data on the foreign travel of 1,064 senior Russian officials and found that 322 of them — nearly one-third — had used business jets.
The investigation is based on a leaked Federal Security Service border database covering crossings of Russia’s border between 2014 and 2023. Journalists matched aircraft registration numbers and call signs contained in the database with publicly available information about aircraft models and operators. Proekt warns that the original database contains errors and omissions, meaning some flights may not have been captured by the investigation.
According to the outlet’s calculations, officials and members of their families made at least 5,300 trips abroad on business jets, amounting to around 6,700 flights when return journeys are included. Proekt estimated their combined cost at approximately $221 million.
The outlet also found that 101 officials had used aircraft that, in its assessment, may have been provided by prominent businesspeople. This is a conclusion reached by the investigators based on their analysis of aircraft operators and passengers and does not establish that a businessman paid for every individual flight.
Alongside the investigation, Proekt published a separate searchable database called “Fellow Travelers,” containing information about officials, their relatives, aircraft they used and their travel destinations.