Thousands of passengers who bought flight tickets with the Russian airline VIM-avia are stuck at airports around the world after the airline went bust on September 16.

The troubled airline has cancelled or delayed dozens of flights over the last few days.

Now the blame game has started after president Vladimir Putin made the collapse of the airline political, publicly chastised Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov and Deputy Prime Minister Akrady Dvorkovich for allowing VIM-avia to go bust in a televised meeting with the cabinet on September 27.

In the early hours of September 28, homes of the air carrier's top managers were searched as a probe was opened into alleged embezzlement of passengers' money by the management, Business FM reported.

According to the report, VIM-avia's owner Rashid Mursekayev has also been detained and is being questioned in the Investigative committee, which contradicts previous reports that he fled Russia.

General director Alexander Kochnev and chief accountant Yekaterina Panteleyeva have been detained, RIA Novosti reported.

Meanwhile, Tatarstan's agency for deposit insurance filed a bankruptcy lawsuit against VIM-avia, Russia's 10^th largest airline.

It is not exactly clear at this point how many passengers with valid tickets for VIM-avia flights are to be affected, but it is likely to be tens of thousands. Those who bought tickets as part of packaged tours constitute the lion's share of the affected passengers.

Tourism industry players suggest that transfer of the bankrupt airline's flights to foreign carriers is the only possible solution in this situation.

In Russia, there are not enough airlines that could carry all of VIM-avia customers, Sergei Tolchin, sales director at Intourist, was quoted as saying by TASS.

The airline's total outstanding debt has reached RUB7bn ($120mn), according to Alexander Neradko, head of the national aviation agency.

News about VIM-avia's problems came on September 22 as its base airport, Moscow's Domodedovo, refused to service the airline's flights over an unpaid bill of RUB500mn ($8.7mn).

The airline has since moved its flights to another Moscow airport, Vnukovo, but it has only worked as a temporary solution.

VIM-avia found itself in a difficult situation in late May and early June when the company delayed nearly 200 flights and dramatically reduced its charter programme. VIM Avia explained the situation as due to servicing of its aircraft and insufficient personnel.

The airline has traditionally focused on the summer holiday season, cashing in during the summer months and using the cash to support operations during the rest of the year, but the reduction of the charter programme this year means it has not built up enough funds to get through the winter this year.

VIM Avia's problems come just two years after the biggest ever bankruptcy in Russia's civic aviation sector, that of Transaero. The airline was Russia's second largest airline until in October 2015 when its license was pulled due to inability to service RUB260bn ($4bn) worth of debt.