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According to military experts, the Il-80 aircraft is one of four that can be used as flying command centers for Russian leaders, including the president, in the event of a nuclear war. The systems on board are top secret. The United States also has a fleet of similar machines. Therefore, both American and Russian planes are popularly called “doomsday planes.”
The thieves are said to have broken into the plane while it was at an airport in the Rostov region for maintenance. The plane must have been at the airport since early 2019.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, sensitive equipment worth 1 million rubles, equivalent to just over 112,000 NOK, has been stolen, The Moscow Times reports.
President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the robbery as an emergency and promised that steps will be taken to prevent something similar from happening again.
According to AFP, the Interior Ministry has not released details about what was stolen, but several state media report that the thieves opened a cargo hatch and stole various radio components.
Investigators found prints and fingerprints on the plane after the thieves and twelve people were questioned about the case so far.
