MOSCOW/ TAGANROG. Dec 10 (Interfax) - The Ilyushin Il-80 military plane, some of whose equipment has been stolen by unknown thieves, will remain in operation, an informed source told Interfax.
"It's not planned to put this plane out of operation; it will be neither decommissioned nor mothballed," the source said.
Il-80 is an airborne command post created by the Ilyushin Design Bureau.
The press service of the Russian Interior Ministry's branch in the Rostov region said on Wednesday that property worth of over 1 million rubles had been stolen from the Il-80 plane parked on an airfield in Taganrog, and a criminal case was opened.
The incident became known on December 7. A source told Interfax that radio station sets and boards were stolen.