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Agence France-Presse

The Kremlin on Wednesday sounded the alarm over the theft of sensitive equipment from a “doomsday plane” designed to shield top command from the effects of a nuclear explosion.
The interior ministry said police in the southern city of Taganrog had been alerted that 1 million roubles (US$13,600) worth of equipment had been stolen from an Ilyushin Il-80 plane at an airfield.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the breach as an “emergency situation” and vowed that “measures will be taken to prevent this from happening in the future.”
The interior ministry did not specify what was stolen but said that investigators had been dispatched to the scene.
The port city of Taganrog, more than 1,100km (683 miles) south of Moscow, is home to Beriev Aircraft Company, a struggling state-controlled enterprise.
Both the interior ministry and Beriev declined to comment.
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But the Kremlin-friendly REN-TV television channel reported earlier this week that radio equipment was taken from an Il-80 plane that was undergoing maintenance at Taganrog.
Thieves opened the aircraft’s cargo hatch and shoe and fingerprints were found inside the plane, the channel said, adding that Beriev reported the theft to police last week.
The channel said that 12 people had been questioned as part of the probe that was made public on Wednesday.
Citing a source, it said officials with access to the airfield could be behind the high-profile theft.
The robbed plane is one of four highly-classified flying command centres built to evacuate the president and other top officials in case of a nuclear explosion.
Almost windowless, the first such Russian plane is believed to have flown in 1985.


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Russia

Thieves steal sensitive equipment from Russia’s top secret ‘doomsday plane’

A Russian Ilyushin Il-80 plane and fighter jets fly near Red Square during the 2010 Victory Day parade rehearsal in Moscow. File photo: AFP

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US$13,600 worth of equipment had been stolen from an Ilyushin Il-80 plane designed to shield top command from the effects of a nuclear explosion
Thieves opened the aircraft’s cargo hatch and shoe and fingerprints were found inside the plane, according to a report



US$13,600 worth of equipment had been stolen from an Ilyushin Il-80 plane designed to shield top command from the effects of a nuclear explosion.


Vladimir Putin

Defence

Crime