Irish lessor Zephyrus Aviation Capital Partners 1D has sued a Lloyd’s of London-led syndicate of insurance companies, and another insurer, for USD28.7 million at the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, in a bid to cover the loss of a stranded Airbus aircraft leased to Yamal Airlines (YC, Salekhard), Law360 reported on January 4 citing court papers.

The move is the latest in a growing series of lawsuits in which lessors are launching legal action against dozens of insurance companies to try to reclaim billions of dollars in losses of aircraft in Russia since Moscow began its war in Ukraine. Hundreds of mostly Airbus and Boeing aircraft remain stuck in Russia since Western sanctions prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a law allowing local carriers to move them to the Russian register.

According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Dublin International-based Zephyrus Aviation Capital has leased one aircraft in its overall portfolio of 24 aircraft to Yamal Airlines, A320-200 RA-73812 (msn 2419), leased under its SPV Zephyrus Capital Aviation Partners 1D Ltd. The twinjet was VP-BHZ before it was given its new Russian registration on April 8.

In September, Yamal Airlines, which is owned by the government of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern Russia, was prominent among Russian carriers in suggesting that Moscow establish a specific period in which foreign companies are allowed to withdraw lease payments out of specially opened “type C” ruble-denominated accounts.

In its lawsuit, filed as case number CL-2022-000637 at the High Court in London on November 30, Zephyrus Capital Aviation argued that Fidelis Underwriting Ltd and a specialist Lloyd’s syndicate had refused to issue a reimbursement for the aircraft.

The lawsuit is backed by Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin), which owns the plane as trustee, and “security trustee” UMB Bank NA based in Kansas City. It claims that Yamal Airlines insured the jet locally and that Fidelis and the syndicate then reinsured this policy under terms that included an “all-risks policy” and “war and allied risks”. The Russian government’s actions “constitute an insured peril” under the policy, according to the claim.

Yamal has claimed that returning the plane could violate Russian law, the lessor said in the lawsuit, adding that even if it is delivered, the cost of making it airworthy would now likely exceed its value.

Yamal Airlines and UMB Bank NA did not immediately respond to ch-aviation’s requests for comment, while Zephyrus Capital Aviation and Wilmington Trust SP Services declined to comment.