Russian answer to High Altitude Airship (HAA)

At TSAGI stand, there were solar-powered airship testbed mockup and it's bigger stratosphere brother placard. Purposes listed in placard included GSM base station for Far East and Siberia, Kioto protocol control, monitoring oil and gas pipelines...you are to continue list. In conversation was said that it can be scaled up to perform any mission, and mentioning HAA in talk caused warm smiles from TSAGI man.