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Roscosmos says several intruders caught on enterprise’s premises were foreigners

According to the corporation head, many items "of interest" were found by the police
The flag of Roscosmos state space corporation Sergei Bobylev/TASS
The flag of Roscosmos state space corporation
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

KHIMKI /Moscow Region/, September 9. /TASS/. Some of the intruders who were detained last weekend while trying to sneak into the territory of the Research and Testing Center of the Rocket and Space Industry (an affiliate of Roscosmos) are foreigners, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin told the media on Monday.

"It is up to the police to find out who they are. If they carried something else apart from the photo cameras… Contact the police. They found quite a few items of interest. I believe that not only the police will pay attention to them. The political affiliation and citizenship of some of those guys are of interest, too," Rogozin said.

As follows from what he said the intruders were detained not inside the security perimeter surrounding the research center, but on a plot of land where a hangar for the Soviet space shuttle Buran was created in the past.

"We do not use this territory at the moment. There are leaseholders. Anyway, it’s a rather large external perimeter of our enterprise," Rogozin said.

"First, a small group was detained. Then it turned out that their friends would soon show up. The ‘friends’ were apprehended, too, and turned over to the police. It is important that our security system worked well," Rogozin said.

He promised rewards for those who effectively protected the company’s security perimeter.

"My advice to one and all is to avoid trying to get through Roscosmos security cordons. We do not care whether they are bloggers, dancers or terrorists. It makes no difference. The attitude will be the same," Rogozin warned.

Detention at Roscosmos

Earlier, Roscosmos said that the security service of the Research and Testing Center of the Rocket and Space Industry last Sunday detained a group of 14 intruders for trying to get onto the center’s premises. All were taken to the police.

On September 7, the security service detained and turned over to the police three persons for illegally taking pictures. The corporation’s press-service said "the intruders tried to make photographs on the roof and inside a tight security facility with the aim of uploading the images to the Internet."

It turned out that a group of up to 50 had plotted to enter the Research and Testing Center of the Rocket and Space Industry last Saturday night in order to commit acts of vandalism. The incident was reported to the law enforcers and Roscosmos management.