A Lion Air spokesperson said in a statement published on Wednesday that the two Boeing 737-900ER aircraft had been reclaimed by their leasing company after the operations contract expired in 2021.

"Lion Air always honors decisions made in any agreement [...] with lessors. We always strive to build a good relationship with lessors and ensure that the process of returning any aircraft is done according to procedure," the statement reads.

The airliner also said it no longer had any control over where the two aircraft were kept after the contract expired.

"The aircraft are no longer operated by or in the control of Lion Air," it said.

The two Boeing 737-900 aircraft bearing the Lion Air logo appear in a photograph posted on March 12 on the Twitter account of HavaSosyalMedya, which bills itself as “Turkey's largest and most active ‘registered’ civil aviation platform”.

"While embargoes against Russia continued, S7 Airlines managed to bring two B737-900 type aircraft from Indonesian Lion Air to Russia,” says the accompanying caption in Turkish, referring to a carrier based in Novosibirsk Oblast, southwestern Siberia.

“The planes will be painted in S7 Airlines colors and given to the flights. “For the first time, the airline added B737-900 type aircraft to its fleet," the post reads in translation.

S7 airline, known for its distinctive fluorescent green livery and also for being the only operator of Embraer E-Jets in Russia.

According to some media reports, the two aircraft are said to be owned by the lessor Russia’s GTLK, which were previously operated under lease by Lion Air, although they did not explain whether this was a sublease or transfer of any existing contract.

Aviation website Aviaciononline.com reported that the jets were manufactured in 2018 and have a longer flight range compared to conventional (non-ER) Boeing 737-900s.

They were spotted at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, still with Lion Air’s paint scheme.

Following Western Europe and the United States’ move to imposed sanctions last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has insisted that international sanctions aren't keeping Russian airlines from flying.

With access cut off to new airplanes made by Boeing and Airbus — which comprise the bulk of the fleets of big carriers like Aeroflot and S7 Airlines — Moscow has scrambled to keep existing fleet flying.

Bloomberg has reported that more than two-fifths of those aircraft were owned by foreign leasing companies.

The Russian government issued a decree in January legalizing the cannibalization of aircraft for parts — meaning that mechanics can take apart some of the existing fleet to keep the rest flying.

The Kremlin has also barred any return of the leased planes to their owners abroad and encouraged carriers to re-register them in Russia.