Soviet and Russian airships

Despite heavy investment in industry by the Russians in late 19th and early 20th century, aviation received little in subsidies and relied heavily on foreign technologies.

Impressed by achievements like that of the Germans in constructing the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, Stalin wanted to compete with the aircraft of the West.

[3] The Graf Zeppelin was a tangible demonstration of the modernity the USSR sought under the First Five Year Plan, and so began a push within the Soviet Union to fund these expensive projects of developing airships.

Public enthusiasm towards airships grew, with supporters viewing them as essential to spreading Socialist culture throughout the USSR and linking disconnected parts of the country together.

The crash killed 13 of the 19 crew members dead, one of whom was Sergei Vladimirovich Demin, the husband of the first Soviet woman to command an airship, Vera Mityagina.

[9] In 1944, the airship Pobeda (Russian Победа = Victory) was built and later used to transport cargo, mainly hydrogen gas for balloons used to train parachute jumpers, on short routes from 20 to 500 kilometres long.