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The Kremlin on Wednesday raised concerns about the theft of equipment from a Russian plane designed to protect top commanders from nuclear strikes.
The Interior Ministry said police in the southern city of Taganrog had stolen equipment worth one million rubles ($ 13,600) from the Ilyushin L-80 while it was parked at an airport.
A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, described the incident as a “state of emergency” and vowed to “take steps to prevent this from happening again.”
The Interior Ministry did not explain what the robbery was, but announced that it had sent a team of investigators to the scene.
The coastal city of Taganrog, located more than 1,100 kilometers south of Moscow, is the headquarters of the aircraft manufacturer “Beriyev”, a state-owned company.
The Interior Ministry and the Beriev Corporation declined to comment to AFP.
But pro-Kremlin television station Rin-TV reported this week that communications equipment had been stolen from an L-80 that was undergoing maintenance in Taganrog.
And the station reported that unidentified persons were able to open the cargo compartment where a shoe and fingerprints were found, adding that “Beriev” informed police of the theft last week.
The station said 12 people were being questioned as part of the investigation, which was announced Wednesday.
The station quoted a source as saying that officials authorized to enter the airport could be behind the theft.
The plane that was stolen is one of four command centers built to evacuate the president and senior commanders in the event of a nuclear explosion.
And military experts considered that the robbery was not just any incident, noting that it constituted “a leak of highly confidential data.” However, it was unanimously agreed that the stolen goods were not of great material value.
