The airship is making a comeback in Russia – and it's not nostalgiaRussia is re-examining dirigibles as a practical solution for moving cargo into regions where roads and railways are either absent or prohibitively expensive to build. The case was laid out in a Pravda.Ru interview with Aytech Bizhev, a candidate of technical sciences, lieutenant general in reserve, and former deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force (2002–2008). Photo: Pravda.ru by Sergey Belov, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/ Airship over a cityThe immediate trigger for the discussion is a proposal from the Siberian Agreement association, cited by the outlet Siberian News. The Air Force maintained an aerostat service for surveillance and electronic-warfare platforms, preserving institutional knowledge and maintenance facilities. On the regulatory side, the government recently authorized commercial passenger flights on free balloons, establishing a legal framework that can be extended to cargo airships.