ULAN UDE, April 29 (Itar-Tass) —— Paratroopers assigned from the Moscow region to the trans-Baikal territory for extinguishing forest fires have been robbed, the territorial prosecutor’s office told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
“A disgraceful incident has happened in the Ulyotovsky district, where 95 paratroopers were stationed. The firemen, who returned to their field camp near the village Tataurovo after a daily mission, found that two containers used for lowering cargo from hovering helicopters and three hard-duty cables were stolen,” it said.
A criminal case was opened, and the search for the offenders started.
The damage done by the robbery to the Moscow regional forestry aviation was estimated at 85,000, but money was not the biggest problem – the devices were custom made and their disappearance might hamper further work of the paratroopers.
“The prosecutor’s office is controlling the course of investigation,” the office said.
The biggest wildfires in the trans-Baikal territory have been put out, but minor taiga fires continue. “Seventeen forest fires on the total area of almost 900 hectares were registered over the past day,” the territorial emergency situations department said.