Berkshire, Chubb Poised for Insurance Win Over Planes in Russia

A California state court signaled it would side with insurers—including units of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Chubb Ltd., and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.—in a dispute over coverage for three aircraft that were leased to Russian airlines and couldn’t be recovered after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The tentative ruling marks one of the first decisions from a US court on whether planes that remain in Russia constitute covered losses under aviation insurance policies, which are often complex and consist of several types of coverage backed by numerous insurers. Other similar cases are pending before state courts in California, ...