Why would you deactivate the brakes, rather than just tell the pilots "don't use the brakes unless it's absolutely necessary, and use thrust reversers instead"?
Not an aircraft mechanic, but just making an assumption based on the similarities in cars
There's a Minimum Equipment List that specifies the minimum stuff a plane needs to be safe to fly, and under what conditions specific equipment can be bypassed or non-functional. I seriously doubt that overworn brake pads can be mitigated or ignored according to the MEL, and a pilot should be sweating bullets signing off to fly a plane that doesn't meet the MEL.
...at least in the modern, developed world. Which Russia is increasingly neither...
Never underestimate the power of snipping off a sensor and soldering in a resistor in it's place :P
...And if only they had better leadership!