The Sukhoi Superjet SSJ-100 has never been a "real Russian", because cooperation with western suppliers was also a priority from the outset, also for reasons of prestige. It was hoped that this would allow the regional jet to be sold to western airlines on a large scale. This hope has not been fulfilled and now it is even becoming a problem for Russian operators.

Although the Superjet is a prestige project of the Russian aviation industry, sales of this type of machine outside of Russia have been slow from the start. In Europe, Cityjet was briefly on the road with the SSJ-100 and even under a wet lease for the Lufthansa subsidiary Brussels Airlines, but it was only a short interlude, because the machines went back to the Russian lessors due to the complicated supply of spare parts.

Numerous components from Western production are installed in the Sukhoi Superjet SSJ-100. These fall under the sanctions that the United States of America and the European Union, among others, have imposed on the Russian Federation due to the military attack on Ukraine. This is exactly what is becoming a problem and could lead to Russian operators gradually having to ground their SSJ-100s.

Yuri Lapin, CEO of IrAero, warned the governor of the Irkutsk region that SSJ-100 operators are unable to repair the Powerjet SaM146 engines, according to Russian media reports. The background is that numerous required components and spare parts come from a French manufacturer. This no longer delivers to Russia due to the sanctions.

The SaM146 turbofan engine was introduced as part of a joint venture between what is now the French aerospace company Safran and the Russian company NPO Saturn. It is a further development of the CFM56 from CFM International. Safran is responsible for the overall design and certification of all versions of the SaM146. The French company is also responsible for the overall supervision.