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First plane with Russian virologists heads to Italy

The military aircraft will head to the Italian Air Force’s military airport Pratica di Mare, some 30 km to the southwest of Rome

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. The first Il-76 military plane of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces with virologists, doctors and equipment departed for Italy to provide assistance in combating the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Sunday.

"The first Il-76 plane of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces departed from Chkalovsky military airfield with Russian military specialists and equipment for the Italian Republic to provide assistance in fighting against the coronavirus," the ministry said.

The military aircraft will head to the Italian Air Force’s military airport Pratica di Mare, some 30 km to the southwest of Rome. It will deliver "a task force of military doctors, specialists in the field of virology and epidemiology with modern equipment on diagnosing and carrying out disinfection events."

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that it was setting up an air group to deliver to Italy eight teams of military virologists and doctors, as well as medical equipment and disinfection systems for transport and territory starting from March 22.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia’s readiness to provide necessary assistance during his phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. In particular, Russia plans to deliver protection kits, mobile systems based on Kamaz trucks for aerosol disinfection of transport and territory, as well as medical and other equipment and teams of Russian specialists for providing assistance in the worst-hit Italian regions.

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