This is an excerpt from a piece that came out a few weeks ago by Catrina Stewart of the Associated Press. Russia has not repeated its precipitate adventurings in Afghanistan, of course.

The full piece is here:

NATO uses Russian aircraft in two main ways. At one end of the scale, Russian choppers take on simple supply missions. At the other end, massive Russian-owned Antonov planes are taking off from distant air bases, such as RAF Brize Norton, the United Kingdom's largest station, bound for the deserts of Afghanistan with heavy and sometimes classified freight.

While the air service companies are private corporations, experts say they almost certainly operate with Kremlin oversight.

"At the very least, there is an acquiescence," said Galeotti, a military and organized crime expert at New York University.

Indeed, there appears to be a quid pro quo. Just days after Russia agreed to allow the U.S. to transship lethal Afghanistan-bound cargo via Russian territory, Russian cargo company Volga-Dnepr — which already has contracts with the U.S. military — said it was in the lead running for a U.S. tender to fly supplies to Afghanistan.

RIA-Novosti news agency quoted chief executive Valery Gabriel as saying Washington had been advised to choose a Russian carrier for this critical service.

For the Kremlin, Russian carriers mean a degree of control over these shipments. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia reserves the right to inspect all cargo flown across its territories.

For the carriers, the work means millions in revenue. The U.S. Transport Command said it has awarded Volga-Dnepr and another Russian company, Polet, $400 million in contracts up to September 2009 in the past year.

Figures for chopper companies are harder to obtain. All of the companies approached refused to divulge both numbers and the identity of their government clients, citing confidentiality.

"Russia is delighted to be involved," said Galeotti. "One, it's big business. Secondly, they are very keen for allied forces to be increasingly dependent on supply lines through Russia."

He added that Russia's GRU, its military intelligence arm — believed to have close links with several Russian companies operating in Afghanistan — may also stand to benefit.

"From a GRU standpoint, you have an extremely useful source — low-level but extremely useful intelligence," he said.