Montreal (Yeah right ? ?
) guy.
I don't think this thread is being best served by discussing the politics involved in the break up of the former USSR , or the quality of design/construction of aviation products which were indeed all from there, no matter the name of the territory now.
Finally, these aircraft were designed to be operated/maintained in a certain way. The somewhat incomplete historical safety records available to those of us on the other side of the iron curtain makes any discussion of relative safety levels achieved WITH this benefit a bit of a nonsense. . . but, what is assuredly true, is that these birds most certainly are NOT being maintained/operated in any way likely to result in the safety levels anticipated by their designers.
Just to avoid confusion, this is not a Commie/USA discussion here, these aircraft are invariably now in the wrong hands, being operated by companies/countries who have a VERY poor track record.
If you doubt my take on this, I would ask you freely and without bias, look at how many Boeings have been crashed this last twenty years in Africa, or indeed South America QED?
A used car is only as good as its last owner, an aircraft is exactly the same.