Russia: Equipment stolen from 'Doomsday Plane'
December 9, 2020
The Russian government said Wednesday it had been made aware of the theft of sensitive equipment from a top-secret military aircraft known as the "Doomsday Plane."
The jet, which is designed for the country's top command in the event of a nuclear attack, was robbed whilst stationary as it underwent maintenance work in the southern region of Rostov Oblast.
The Kremlin's interior ministry said police in the city of Taganrog had raised the alarm regarding the theft of 1 million rubles ($13,600, €11,200) worth of equipment from the Ilyushin Il-80 plane.
Sensitive issue
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the crime as an "emergency situation" and promised the government would take "measures to prevent this from happening in the future."
Local police said a search for the culprits was under way, but that no arrests had been made thus far.
The theft comes after Russia increased its spending as part of plans to overhaul the military.
The Ilyushin Il-80 was designed to survive electromagnetic pulses and is almost windowless to prevent the crew and passengers from being blinded by the effects of a nuclear explosion.
jsi/msh (Reuters, AFP)